Can you imagine every morning waking
up, knowing that you must face taking a shot of insulin just to
stay alive? Well, I can. I have insulin dependent
diabetes. The syringe I just described is real to
me. I need the insulin to keep my blood glucose under
control.
Diabetes is a disease of abnormal
carboydrate metabolism in which glucose/sugar cannot enter the
cells and be utilized; therefore it remains in the blood in high
amounts. If insulin is not injected into the
diabetic person, their blood will become acidic, causing great
illness and even death.
Researchers are very close to creating
a normal simulation of insulin production, through the use of an
insulin pump. The insulin pump provides a close to normal
insulin secretion.
Presently, scientists are
experimenting with pancreas transplants, but this is mainly for
the diabetic whose condition has seriously affected their
life.
There can be many complications that
will affect a diabetic's life, from not maintaining their blood
glucose. Some complications include: kidney failure,
cardiovascular disease, exterior nerve damage that can result in
the loss of a limb, and much, much more.
Diabetes in kids is too
common. One in every 600 children is diagnosed with
the disease. In California alone, the juvenile
diabetes death rate is approximately 1,000 per year, out
of 90,000 young people presently diagnosed with disease.
To me, that is a LOT of children dying due to
DIABETES every year!
The ideal approach is to find a way to
stop people from getting diabetes. Diabetes is NOT contagious! Most
people have diabetes due to their genes. At this point,
there isn't any promising evidence for preventing the onset of
diabetes any time soon.
Researchers are looking into
transplanting normal islets as replacements for the damaged or
destroyed beta cells of the diabetic. Ten years ago,
transplants of islets in rat's who were bred with diabetes were
shown to reverse the diabetic state to normal.
The islet transplants also prevented,
or reversed, early complications from diabetes. That
involved the eye or kidney in these animals.
An unexpected and promising
development occurred during the past decade while islets were
successfully transplanted between strains of animals,
without the use of immuno-supressive drugs.
Researchers treated the islets before the transplant to destroy
or alter the white blood cells that prevent people from
illness.
The potential for curing diabetes
using pancreas transplants, islet transplants, or an implantable
artificial pancreas, is real. Our advances in
understanding diabetes are phenomenal.
Opportunities also exist for basic
research into the causes of islet deterioration in diabetics,
and techniques for the prevention of the destruction of
transplanted islets.
As we push forward, we may find the
cure, or a way to prevent this life altering disease through
trial and error, from affecting so many
people.
My commitment at this moment is to
maintain a healthy lifestyle by working hard to keep my blood
glucose under control. So I can be one of the lucky few
who will go on, and take part in the research that will provide
the knowledge needed for finding the cure.
As James Joyce wrote,
"Mistakes are portals of
discovery."
THINK ABOUT IT.
If there are approximately 90,000
juvenile diabetics just in California alone...
Then how many diabetics are there in
the United States?
Waiting..................................for
the cure?
Thank you.
Krystle
