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Diabetes advocates are applauding President Obama's selection of Sonia Sotomayor, the 54-year-old New York jurist who was diagnosed with the type 1 diabetes when she was 8.

"It's a great thing," said Dr. Paul Robertson, president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association said after the announcement Tuesday. "It's wonderful for diabetics. I think it will go a long way toward being a major push against the stigma that some people with diabetes feel."

Uncontrolled diabetes is marked by high blood sugar, which can lead to complications such as an increased risk of peripheral nerve disease, eye disease, kidney disease, heart attack and stroke.

But plenty of professional athletes excel at their sport while controlling the disease, and serving on the nation's high court should be no more of a challenge, Robertson said.

"This is not rocket science to take care of yourself these days if you have type 1 diabetes," he said. Read full article »

CNN's Elizabeth Landau contributed to this report

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