LOS ANGELES — November is Diabetes Awarness Month, highlighting the chronic condition affecting around 38 million Americans. People of color face unique challenges that play a role in their higher risk rates, from health disparities, to cultural diet and other socio-economic factors.

African Americans are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with the disease than their white counterparts. The latest data shows 5 million of those impacted in the U.S. are African American.

Although there is no cure for the health condition, Dr. Turner, a family physician at Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw, says diet and exercise play a huge role in treating type 2 diabetes. He has used his personal background as an African American doctor to encourage other patients of color to live a healthier lifestyle.