POISON's Diabetic Singer BRET MICHAELS Lives Life Large

Linda von Wartburg of DiabetesHealth.com reports: Bret Michaels was only six years old when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Now 44 years old, he's a twenty-year veteran of the rock and roll scene as the lead singer of the Eighties band POISON.

Not one to slow down, he's soon going on tour with the band again. And he's about to appear in his own VH1 reality show, in which several uninhibited women vie for his attention and spar with each other in an attempt to win his heart. But in spite of his raunchy public style and rocker persona, there's a deep undercurrent of mature common sense when it comes to his life with diabetes.

Living by the mantra "you can't bury your head in the sand," and the motto "mind, muscle, and motorcycles over matter," he works just as hard as he plays, which is pretty hard indeed.

Bret describes his diagnosis with type 1 diabetes at such a young age as a blessing in disguise because it has always been with him, accepted as part of life from the beginning. A very active child, he remembers feeling "really, really worn out," before his diagnosis, having a funny taste in his mouth and itchy skin, and being, of course, thirsty beyond belief.

His family attributed his symptoms to various temporary illnesses, so by the time he got to the hospital his sugar level was sky high and he was going into severe ketoacidosis. He remained in the hospital for three weeks, during which his parents helped him realize that "it's not going to be fun, but it's part of life now."

Read the entire article at DiabetesHealth.com.