Diabetes has become a major epidemic in the United States, which is why the UFT Welfare Fund chose to hold a workshop on the disease and how to prevent it. More than 50 in-service members, retirees and their friends and family members heard from specialists on the disease at the union’s Manhattan headquarters at the Oct. 7 session entitled Diabetes: What You Need to Know. Dr. Samuel Arce, a family and attending physician at Jamaica Hospital, and Dr. Howard Huey, the director of endocrinology at New York Presbyterian, discussed a wide array of topics, including diabetes risk factors, prevention, signs and symptoms, management and medication. Kevin Shippy, the executive director of the American Diabetes Association of Greater New York, informed attendees of the association’s work, including health expos and community outreach about the disease. Artie Pepper, the executive director of the UFT’s Welfare Fund, said it’s important to confront diabetes head-on. “It’s become an epidemic,” he said. “We need to provide members and the community with information about diabetes and the ways to prevent, identify and manage it.”