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The star of the CBS hit series "Touched By an Angel," Reese, 73, will appear at the American Diabetes Association's Diabetes Expo on Saturday.

She will share practical and personal advice for living with type 2 diabetes, a disease that affects an estimated 16 million Americans. Her speech will include tips for the audience on meal planning and physical activity, plus information on insulin resistance, which is an underlying cause of type 2 diabetes.

"I'm hoping they will say, 'If Della says you can do this, you can do it,'" says Reese on the phone from her Los Angeles home.

"Della Reese: Stronger Than Diabetes," a nationwide educational campaign sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, brings the actress and singer to the Pittsburgh event and many other American cities through the end of the year. She has been touring the country with her message since last fall.

"I've lived a wonderful, creative, productive life, and I intend to live that way until I get off this planet," Reese says. "I wanted to do something for my fans. I wanted to do this on a large scale."

Complications of type 2 diabetes include heart attacks, strokes, blindness and kidney failure. Consequently, she says, when faced with a diagnosis, many people will react like Reese did -- thinking their lives have little hope. Yet patients can successfully manage diabetes by committing to dietary habits and physical activity -- and, perhaps most importantly, by applying a fit, healthy mind and attitude, she says.

"The mind rules the rest of the body," says Reese, who will sign autographs at the conference and pass out her personal brochure and an inspirational CD.

"If you believe you can't make it, guess what? You can't make it. If you believe you can, nothing can stop you," she says. "There's no deep, dark secret. It's very simple. You have to change your mind about the habits."

Doctors discovered Reese's type 2 diabetes about four years ago, when a pounding sensation struck her head as she went down stairs on the "Touched By an Angel" set. Colleagues called the paramedics.

"It felt like my head would burst open. I sat on the steps -- I don't know how long."

The forthcoming diagnosis shocked Reese, who had no prior symptoms of type 2 diabetes, which is called a silent killer for its frequent symptomless presence. Yet victims must be aggressive in their response to the disease, she says.

"It boils down to, do you have another dish of ice cream or do you want to keep your left leg?" Reese says. "I'm working on it constantly. ... It's something I'm going to have to work on every day."

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