Octavia Spencer is used to commanding the screen, but her most vital role to date is one that hits close to home. “What I’ve learned as I’m aging—and I’ve been able to control both—is that people with high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes are at risk for kidney disease,” Spencer tells BlackDoctor. According to the American Heart Association, about 58 percent of Black adults have high blood pressure. “As a Black woman, I know that diabetes and high blood pressure are quite prevalent in our community,” she adds. With high blood pressure, I didn’t suffer from anything except when they actually took my blood pressure reading,” she shares.