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Interactive Traveling Diabetes Exhibit to Be Unveiled at Detroit Science Center

Friday, December 4, 2009 General News
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Diabetes: A Deeper Look Educates Americans About This Growing Epidemic Through Hands-on Experience for All Ages

DETROIT, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the United States, a person is diagnosed with diabetes every 21 seconds. On December 5, 2009, the Detroit Science Center will debut its newest exhibit, Diabetes: A Deeper Look, to help answer questions that the public might have about diabetes, diabetes treatment and the role insulin plays in the body.
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"Diabetes: A Deeper Look offers our visitors a unique opportunity to learn about a condition that affects nearly 24 million Americans," said Kevin F. Prihod, President & CEO, Detroit Science Center. "The Detroit Science Center is pleased to offer this educational experience, because the more you know about diabetes and available treatment options, the better equipped you are to take the right steps in achieving improved blood sugar control."
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Diabetes: A Deeper Look is a 2,500 sq. ft. traveling exhibit, made possible with support from sanofi-aventis U.S., that features a collection of interactive displays built in and around a giant walk-through blood vessel. The hands-on exhibit is designed to help reach large audiences, including people living with diabetes, their friends and families, caregivers, treating healthcare providers, students and community members not yet diagnosed.

Visitors to the exhibit enter through a giant cell structure that simulates how insulin helps get glucose into cells. Inside and around the vessel, hands-on interactive exhibits and displays will explain the role of insulin; how people can be affected by diabetes; the importance of diet and exercise as the first line of defense to preventing and managing type 2 diabetes; the types of medications used to help control blood sugar levels, including insulin; and the research and discovery of medications used to help treat diabetes.

"Sanofi-aventis U.S. recognizes the value of educating the American public about diabetes and available treatment options and is proud to work with the Detroit Science Center in launching the Diabetes: A Deeper Look traveling exhibit," said Dr. Paul Chew, Chief ScienceOfficer/Chief Medical Officer, sanofi-aventis U.S. "This exhibit will help tell the story of people living with diabetes, and more specifically, explain the important role of insulin in the body and how different parts of the body are affected when it does not effectively use or produce enough insulin."

Diabetes: A Deeper Look will open at the Detroit Science Center on December 5, followed by a tour of 12 additional U.S. destinations from 2010-2012. Entrance to the Diabetes: A Deeper Look exhibit is free of charge to visitors with museum admission.

"It is important for Detroit residents, as well as the American public as a whole, to learn more about diabetes, and for those living with the condition, how to properly manage it," said Abdul Salam Al-Kassab, MD PhD MRCP FACE, Attending Physician, Endocrinoloy & Diabetes, Clinical Associate Professor of Endocrinology, Wayne State University.

For more information about the exhibit and the Detroit Science Center, please visit http://www.detroitsciencecenter.org.

About Insulin

Insulin is a hormone that allows blood sugar to move from a person's bloodstream into cells, giving them energy. Type 1 diabetes results from the body's failure to produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes results from the body not producing enough insulin or not using the insulin produced adequately. About 40 percent of patients with diabetes are not in control of their blood sugar. Diabetes is a progressive disease, and achieving blood sugar control earlier in the course of the disease may help reduce the risk of diabetes-related complications.

About Diabetes

Diabetes is a chronic, widespread condition in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin, the hormone needed to transport glucose (sugar) from the blood into the cells of the body for energy. More than 230 million people worldwide are living with the disease and this number is expected to rise to a staggering 350 million within 20 years. It is estimated that nearly 24 million Americans have diabetes, including an estimated 5.7 million who remain undiagnosed.

About sanofi-aventis

Sanofi-aventis U.S. is an affiliate of sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and distributes therapeutic solutions to help improve the lives of patients. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY). For more information, www.sanofi-aventis.us or www.sanofi-aventis.com

About the Detroit Science Center

The Detroit Science Center is a hands-on museum that inspires its visitors to pursue and support careers in engineering, technology and science. The Science Center features five theaters, including Michigan's only Chrysler IMAX(R) Dome Theatre, the Dassault Systemes Planetarium, the Toyota Engineering Theater, the DTE Energy Sparks Theater and the Chrysler Science Stage; a 9,000 square-foot Science Hall for traveling exhibits; hands-on exhibit galleries focusing on space, life and physical science; the United States Steel Fun Factory; an exhibit gallery just for pint-size scientists; and a Special Events Lobby. For more information, please call 313.577.8400 or visit the website, http://www.detroitsciencecenter.org.

US.GLA.09.10.188

SOURCE Detroit Science Center
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