Diabetes Assn. Opens Chapter in Valley

Although the San Fernando Valley is home to local chapters of several national health education organizations, the region only last month got a chapter of the American Diabetes Assn.

The chapter will operate out of the Encino Tarzana Regional Medical Center, officials said.

“It’s a mystery to everyone why an area this size would not have a chapter until now,” said Gary Washburn, director of public relations for the association.

“There has never been a systematic effort here to educate the public about this disease.”

As the chapter’s first president, Keith S. Richman, an internist and chief executive officer of Keystone Health Medical Group, will lead a team of 30 directors in fund-raising for the organization and getting the word out to area residents to be tested.

Officials said there are 16 million people nationwide and about 1 million in the Los Angeles area diagnosed with the disease, but they did not know how many are in the Valley.

“Diabetes has tripled in prevalence since the 1960s and is expected to become increasingly more common, costly and catastrophic as baby boomers get older, gain weight and remain inactive,” Richman said.

Diabetes affects the body’s ability to produce or respond to insulin, a hormone that allows blood sugar to be used as energy.

If left untreated, it can lead to blindness, kidney failure, heart disease and stroke, among other conditions, officials said.

The first task the Valley chapter will take on is the annual Walktoberfest fund-raiser Saturday in Warner Center.

Washburn said the walk is the association’s signature benefit, with money going to education and medical research into treatments and a cure for the disease.

The Walktoberfest will begin with check-in at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Promenade at Woodland Hills, at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Oxnard Street.

To register for the six-mile trek, call (800) 254-9255 or (213) 966-2890.