World Diabetes Awareness Day
Diabetes Type 1 is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. It occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. Its onset has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. There is nothing you can do to prevent Type1Diabetes, and-at present-nothing you can do to get rid of it.
Type 1 Diabetes strikes both children and adults at any age. It comes on suddenly, causes dependence on injected or pumped insulin for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications.
Living with Type1 Diabetes is a constant challenge. People with the disease must carefully balance insulin doses (either by injections multiple times a day or continuous infusion through a pump) with eating and daily activities throughout the day and night. They must also test their blood sugar by pricking their fingers for blood six or more times a day. Despite this constant attention, people with Type1Diabetes still run the risk of dangerous high or low blood sugar levels, both of which can be life-threatening. People with Type1Diabetes overcome these challenges on a daily basis.
Type 1 Diabetes cannot be cured by insulin .While insulin injections or infusion allow a person with Type1Diabetes to stay alive, they do not cure the disease, nor do they necessarily prevent the possibility of the disease’s serious effects, which may include: kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputations, heart attack, stroke, and pregnancy complications.
Although Type 1 Diabetes is a serious and difficult disease, treatment options are improving all the time, and people with Type1Diabetes can lead full and active lives. JDRF is driving research to improve the technology people with Type1Diabetes use to monitor blood sugar levels and deliver the proper doses of insulin, as well as research that will ultimately deliver a cure.
National Statistics show that there are as many as three million Americans may have type 1 Diabetes. Each year, more than 15,000 children and 15,000 adults – approximately 80 people per day – are diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in the U.S.85 percent of people living with Type 1 Diabetes are adults .The rate of Type 1 Diabetes prevalence among children under the age of 14 is estimated to increase by 3% annually worldwide.
Warning signs of Type1Diabetes may occur suddenly and include: Extreme thirst, Frequent urination, Drowsiness or lethargy, Increased appetite, Sudden weight loss, Sudden vision changes, Sugar in the urine, Fruity odor on the breath, Heavy or labored breathing, Stupor or unconsciousness
Living with Diabetes is a difficult situation .Ask people who have Type 1Diabetes, and they will tell you: It’s difficult. It’s upsetting. It’s life-threatening. It never goes away. But, at the same time, people with Type1Diabetes serve as an inspiration by facing the disease’s challenges with courage and perseverance and don’t let it stand in the way of achieving their goals.
Anybody who is afflicted and who lives with Type Diabetes needs to be mathematicians, physicians, personal trainers, and dieticians all rolled into one. They need to be constantly factoring and adjusting, making frequent finger sticks to check blood sugars, and giving ourselves multiple daily insulin injections just to stay alive. It becomes a 24/7 job in which the person afflicted never gets to relax and forget about food, whether they’ve exercised too much or too little, insulin injections, blood sugar testing, or the impact of stress, a cold, a sunburn, and on and on. So many things make each day a risky venture when you live with Type1Diabetes.
Maverick County as a whole has a dangerous prevalence to Diabetes in all forms. For example there are over 25 children in our school system under the age of 12 years old who are afflicted by Type 1 Diabetes. In need of constant care this children require attention 24 hours a day. An organization of parents and concerned citizens are bringing awareness to the realities of living with Type 1 Diabetes. They will be holding a Walk for Awareness event on December 1, 2012 at the Maverick County,Lake at 9:00 Am. If anyone is interested in joining in the fight for such a worthy cause of awareness please contact Mary Cruz at mcruz9694@gmail.com.
