JDRF

November is a special time in the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community: it’s National Diabetes Awareness Month in the US, and World Diabetes Day is on November 14th. Type 1 diabetes, also known as ‘juvenile diabetes’, results from a self-destructive immune response against the insulin producing pancreatic beta cells. As a result of this ‘autoimmune’ disease, patients with type 1 diabetes develop a life long dependence on insulin. Unfortunately, this form of treatment is often insufficient for preventing a number of complications including heart disease, blindness, and kidney disease, among others.

As a result, The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is committed to finding a method for preventing or permanently reversing this disease. As mentioned in one of our previous blogs here, our 5 year old son was diagnosed last year. That being said we are very grateful and passionate about the work JDRF is committed to.

One Walk

Last month our family took a trip to Portland Oregon to participate in the JDRF One Walk fundraiser. The 5k walk featured about a dozen booths, ranging from diabetes information to new technology helping to delay the onset of T1D. Several guest speakers were in attendance such as Rhonda Shelby, a local television meteorologist with KATU News. Her husband has been living with diabetes for over 20 years and she has been a strong advocate in the local T1D community. Other guest were Miss Oregon, Amanda Garcia, who has published a children's activity book called “Rising above T1D with Pretzel”. As a Connections Ambassador with JDRF, she plans to give the books away to the newly diagnosed T1D families. The last speaker was a motorcycle organization called Kindred Spirits. They are local to the Oregon community and have been doing motorcycle rides to help advocate and raise awareness. They also hold many camps around the Pacific Northwest for kids with T1D.

Screening

JDRF teamed up with Benaroya Research Institute and created TrailNet which has discovered that the presence of two or more specific autoantibodies in a person indicates they are almost 100% sure to get T1D in their lifetime. They also know that if they screen more people for these autoantibodies, they can tell them what to look out for, preventing DKA at diagnosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a phrase no person with T1D ever wants to hear. It’s a serious complication that can occur in people with T1D, and it can result in life-threatening complications and death.

People with T1D know what to do to avoid it—but people who have yet to be diagnosed do not. That’s why, unfortunately, a significant percentage of people experience DKA at diagnosis. Thanks to JDRF-funded research, they have a solution to prevent this: Global, universal screening. They had a TrailNet booth located near the entrance of the One Walk. We decided before we left to have our oldest son Elijah screened. It was a simple and quick process. Blood draw lasted just a few seconds and then it is sealed and sent out for testing. We have received his screening result today, approximately 1 month later and he tested negative and has a very low chance to developing T1D later on.

Conclusion

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates 88 million adult Americans have prediabetes, and more than 84 percent go undiagnosed. Unfortunately, without screening many go unnoticed before it's to late. Mandatory screenings need to be considered because kids lives could be in danger. As seen here, here and here and many many more, are dying from ketoacidosis and not being properly diagnosed with T1D. Even if you don't suspect that your child could have it, it would be smart to routinely have blood glucose checked during your child's well appointments. The doctor won't check blood sugar levels unless you request to have it done. Lastly, be alert of the warning signs, which includes extreme thirst, frequently going to the bathroom and lethargy. Fortunately for us, our nurse on duty the day we found out Ethan had T1D checked his blood sugar and diagnosed him before any ketones could develop.

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