Elizabeth Flesher, Outreach Manager and Sue Petatric, Walk manager joined us to share an overview of the seriousness of type 1 diabetes, the auto-immune disease that effects both juveniles and adults. Type 1 diabetes can attack at all ages and requires those people to constantly monitor their blood sugar levels in order to avoid some serious complications to their health. Elizabeth has two children with type 1 diabetes, both of whom wear insulin pumps, which inject the needed amounts to the body on a 24/7 schedule. The pumps take the place of the pancreas, which can no longer provide insulin to a type 1 patient. Issac, Elizabeth’s eight-year-old son was diagnosed with type1 diabetes at the age of eighteen months old. Elizabeth has had to monitor his blood sugar levels as much as fifteen times a day until he was able to wear the insulin pump. The attached glucose monitor checks his blood sugar levels five times a day and can administer insulin that levels out the erratic highs and lows of type 1 diabetes through the day enabling him to lead a more normal lifestyle. Currently, there is no cure for type 1 diabetes, but there are fifty-five human studies taking place and the hope is that a cure is close at hand. Sue shared that through the research an artificial pancreas is being developed. Additionally, the organizations research has supported the gains in designing Islet Cell Encapsulation materials, which consists of implanting insulin-producing beta cells in to the body (about the size of a quarter) as a type of therapy, this could be “life changing”. JDRF has found that type 1 diabetes effects all ages and that 85% of those with it are adults.

JDRF is a forty-four year old non-profit organization that has raised over $68 million dollars from the 300 Walks they do. Sue Petatric invites us to their current 5K Walk which will be at the Rose Bowl on October 25,2015 at 10:00 a.m. She asks that we sign up, set-up a Rotary team, set a goal and just have fun. We thank the JDRF along with Elizabeth and Sue for sharing this information about type 1 diabetes and how we can help in the fight to stop it once and for all.

(Pat Dolphin)