Award certificate

"When my father died and I looked at his death certificate," says award-winning actress Phylicia Rashad, "I was shocked to see that it read `cardiac arrest due to hypertension from diabetes.'"

As the well-grounded center of the Huxtable universe on "The Cosby Show," Rashad was unsettled to learn of the diabetes and heart-disease link.

"Like many people in our country, there is a history of diabetes in my family," says Rashad. "My father had to take insulin as my grandfather did. We never made the connection between cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes."

To spread the word about the link between diabetes type 2 and heart disease, Rashad launched the "Take Diabetes to Heart" awareness campaign. Along the way, the actress learned about the epidemic of diabetes in American youth, aggravated by obesity and sedentary lifestyle.

"Diabetes is very serious," says Rashad. "There are serious risk factors involved for complications, but it is manageable and, with aggressive management, a person can live a very healthy life."