Shedding Light on Juvenile Diabetes
Imagine giving yourself a shot two times a day to regulate your insulin level and pricking your finger several times a day to get a drop of blood to check your sugar levels. If you don’t, your blood sugar level could soar so high or so low that you become lethargic, or if you’re asleep, you can’t wake yourself up. It’s called a Diabetic Coma, and this is a scary reality for millions of Americans, mostly adults, living with Juvenile or type 1 diabetes (T1D).
T1D is a life-threatening autoimmune disease that occurs when the pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone needed to get energy from food. Lifestyle, food and diet choice have nothing to do with contracting this disease. Those affected must monitor what they put into their body and inject insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. There are numerous side-effects that aren’t pretty and even death may occur if insulin levels are not maintained at a healthy level.
I remember when my brother was diagnosed with T1D over 20 years ago and how it completely changed my family in practical and surprising ways. Back then, it meant substituting everything with sugar in our house with harsh and distasteful Aspartame. It meant keeping chalky glucose tabs on-hand everywhere in case my brother didn’t get his daily insulin level correct and knowing, at all times, where the emergency insulin shot kit was kept. It meant being aware of the signs and knowing how to revive someone twice my size from a Diabetic Coma.
Those diagnosed and living with T1D grow up fast and live the same reality. Thanks to organizations like the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), great strides have been made and those diagnosed with the disease today don’t have as hard a time as those diagnosed 20 years ago. Technology is amazing and JDRF is working to help further diabetic advancements such as the artificial pancreas and better, more efficient and intuitive insulin pumps so shots all over the body can be a thing of the past for all those living with Type 1.
Businessolver is supporting JDRF in Quarter 2 to shed light on the good work that the organization is doing and to help raise awareness for T1D. We invite you to join us in supporting this great cause. The JDRF One Walk is taking place on May 14 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds and we invite you and your family to walk or run with us – either 1 or 3 miles. This family friendly event supports those living with T1D and helps bring awareness to a disease that affects 1.25 million Americans. Learn more at JDRF.org and join Team Businessolver!
