She and other women who are members of the Yale-Griffin Hospital Community Health Advisers attended a lecture Wednesday at Yale's School of Public Health. The lecture was by Ronny Bell (pictured), the director of the Maya Angelou Center on Minority Health at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina. His talk was the first in a series called "Health Disparities: The Challenge of the New Millennium," which is funded by Pfizer.

Bell said the elements of quality care from the health care system include screening, education, treatment, provider perception and vaccinations. Elements of self-care include diet, exercise, foot checks and self-monitoring of blood sugar. Bell's team analyzed hundreds of peer-reviewed papers on the subject and was able to show in detail how racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to suffer fatal complications.

After the lecture, about 25 people picked up their (healthful) lunch and gathered in a smaller room for discussion with the speaker: public health students, faculty, city health department staffers and half a dozen members of Community Health Advisers, a group run in partnership with the public health school and Griffin Hospital.

Cynthia Alford of New Haven (pictured) is an expert in her own way. She was diagnosed with diabetes 30 years ago, at the age of 17. She said she ballooned overnight to 275 pounds and several years ago went up to 335 pounds. She's since lost that 60 extra pounds. She is working to lose more, since weight gain often triggers and then complicates diabetes.

"I cut down on eating and I don't drink a lot of sodas," she said. "I go to the pool and work out two or three times a week. I do water aerobics."

She said she feels pretty much in control of her diabetes, but she's frustrated that she needs some teeth replaced and hasn't seen a dentist in almost a decade. She can't work and is on disability, and she says her insurance doesn't cover dental visits. Lack of insurance or under-insurance is another big problem in minority communities.

Alford was recruited to Community Health Advisers by her minister at St. Matthew's Unison Freewill Baptist Church. She in turn recruited two friends, including Christine Burruss (pictured at top of story).

"When I first found out I had diabetes, I was all emotional," Burruss said. "I thought I was going to die. I said, 'Why did I get this? I'm a good woman.'" Click here for more of her reaction.

She said she suffers from arthritis and from depression, which causes her to eat more. But she's tried to cut way back on fried foods and had lost some weight heading into the holiday season, but gained it back and is now starting over. But one thing that gives her a lot of satisfaction is helping others like herself learn about diabetes - the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. - and get on the road to improved health. Team members speak at churches and also do street outreach.

"I've reached two people who didn't know they had diabetes until they talked to me," Burruss said, "then they went and got tested. They were telling me they had symptoms like dry mouth and urinating all the time."

Roslyn Hamilton, who works for the New Haven Health Department, attended the talk and discussion. She asked if there might be a correlation between the sharp increase in the presence of high fructose corn syrup in many foods and the rise in diabetes. Bell responded that it was a good question and worth looking into, but he had no information on any specific link. Hamilton said it's important to make fresh fruits and vegetables more available and affordable to residents of the inner city as a way to improve their diets, and suggested that greater participation in community gardens and cooking lessons for young women could help tackle the problem.