Type 1 Diabetics Thriving And Living Longer

Type 1 diabetics thriving and living longer

People who have thrived with Type 1 diabetes for 50 years or more are inspiring doctors in Toronto to investigate why and how they've accomplished the feat in order to help other patients.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that stops the pancreas from producing the hormone we need to use carbohydrates as fuel. People with Type 1 diabetes must inject insulin to prevent serious illness or death.
The life expectancy for those with Type 1 diabetes may be shortened by as much as 15 years, according to the Canadian Diabetes Association.
"In the 1940s, roughly half of people with Type 1 diabetes were getting end-stage kidney disease in their 40s and dying in their 40s," said Dr. Bruce Perkins, an endocrinologist at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital.
Diabetes longevity
A U.S. modelling estimate based on data from the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications suggests that the life expectancy at birth for someone diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes between 1965 and 1980 was estimated to be 68.8 years compared to 72.4 years for the general population. In comparison, for someone diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes between 1950 and 1964, the estimated life expectancy at birth was 53.4 years.
Most Canadian provinces lack diabetes registries. That’s why researchers aren’t able to identify the type of diabetes someone has using billing codes and administrative databases.
Perkins is leading the Diabetes Longevity Study — the first Canadian study of its kind looking at the personal experiences of Canadians who have lived with Type 1 diabetes for 50 years or more.
Perkins attribute Continue reading

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Diabetes in Children and Teens: Signs and Symptoms

With more than a third of diabetes cases in the United States occurring in people over the age of 65, diabetes is often referred to as an age-related condition. But around 208,000 children and adolescents are estimated to have diabetes, and this number is increasing.
Type 1 diabetes is the most common form of the condition among children and adolescents.
A 2009 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that type 1 diabetes prevalence stands at 1.93 in every 1,000 children and adolescents, while type 2 diabetes affects 0.24 in every 1,000.
In 2014, Medical News Today reported that, based on a study published in JAMA, rates of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes have increased significantly among American children and teenagers.
The study found that incidence of type 1 diabetes in children aged up to 9 years increased by 21 percent between 2001 and 2009, while incidence of type 2 diabetes among youths aged 10-19 years rose by 30.5 percent.
The researchers note: "The increases in prevalence reported herein are important because such youth with diabetes will enter adulthood with several years of disease duration, difficulty in treatment, an increased risk of early complications and increased frequency of diabetes during reproductive years, which may further increase diabetes in the next generation."
Contents of this article:
Here are some key points about diabetes in children. More detail and supporting information is in the main article.
Type 1 and 2 diabetes are both increasing in the youth of America
Often, the symptoms of type 1 diabetes in child Continue reading

Giant Breakthrough in Type 1 Diabetes Research

Diabetes Ireland is delighted to hear of the Harvard success and congratulate Professor Melton and colleagues on figuring out the complex series of steps necessary to turn stem cells into beta cells.
Hopefully, they can negotiate the regulations for mass production so that an abundant supply of beta cells is available an new and innovative methods will be developed to cure/treat Type 1 diabetes.
Type I diabetes is an autoimmune condition whereby the body kills off its own beta (insulin producing) cells resulting in the need for daily insulin administration through the skin.
Replacing beta cells in the first step towards a cure, but the replaced beta cells need to be protected from the body’s autoimmune response. This means protecting them in a coating or taking drugs to prevent the response (possible worse side effects than diabetes).
While excited about this major step towards a cure, it may be many years before this is widely available. Other cure options on the horizon include technology cures which may be less invasive.
So for people with Type 1 diabetes, there is hope of seeing a cure during your lifetime and therefore, ensure you stay healthy so that when available you can avail of it.
Dr Anna Clarke,
Health Promotion Manager, Diabetes Ireland
Professor Melton’s research project explained
Our research partners in the UK, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), have been heavily involved with this project. So what is it?
A new method for converting stem cells to beta cells could speed encapsulated cell replacement product development and research to cure type Continue reading

The High Costs of Diabetes Kills: RIP, Shane Patrick Boyle

Shane Patrick Boyle has been on my mind and in my heart since last Thursday.
I've reached out to Shane's cousin on Facebook, but haven't heard from her yet - she's got a lot on her plate.
Still, I wanted to post the story so that we could help Shane's family - and to prevent this from happening to another person.
Nobody should die in the United States, or in any other country because they lack the funds to pay for insulin, or don't have access to insulin.
#DiabetesAccessMatters #insulin4all
This is Shane Patrick Boyle.
From all accounts, Shane Patrick Boyle was a gifted writer and graphic artist, founder of ZineFest, Houston, a good son and brother, a kind and gentle man with tremendous talent and a giving heart - and his artwork reflected his kind and gentle spirit.
the above illustration and a snapshot
of his facebook profile below.
She felt both were true representations of Shane's spirit and talent.
The family feels that Shane, who always fought for the underdog,
would be honored to leave a legacy of motivating others to fight for
change ~
This is the link to Shane’s Go-Fund-Me for insulin, which has now become his G0-Fund-Me account for funeral expenses - for Shane and his mother.
Shane passed on March 18th, and according to his Go-Fund-Me Page, "Shane died because he was trying to stretch out his life saving insulin to make it last longer."
Shane moved back home to help take care of his sick mom, Judith (she died on March 11th,) and his healthcare was put on the line.
Because he moved, Shane lost his Rx benefits, was between doctors and needed insulin for his type 1 Continue reading

Prevent Type 2 Diabetes in Kids

There’s a growing type 2 diabetes problem in our young people. But parents can help turn the tide with healthy changes that are good for the whole family.
Until recently, young children and teens almost never got type 2 diabetes, which is why it used to be called adult-onset diabetes. Now, about one-third of American youth are overweight, a problem closely related to the increase in kids with type 2 diabetes, some as young as 10 years old.
Weight Matters
People who are overweight—especially if they have excess belly fat—are more likely to have insulin resistance, kids included. Insulin resistance is a major risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that acts like a key to let blood sugar into cells for use as energy. Because of heredity (traits inherited from family members) or lifestyle (eating too much and moving too little), cells can stop responding normally to insulin. That causes the pancreas to make more insulin to try to get cells to respond and take in blood sugar.
As long as enough insulin is produced, blood sugar levels remain normal. This can go on for several years, but eventually the pancreas can’t keep up. Blood sugar starts to rise, first after meals and then all the time. Now the stage is set for type 2 diabetes.
Insulin resistance usually doesn’t have any symptoms, though some kids develop patches of thickened, dark, velvety skin called acanthosis nigricans, usually in body creases and folds such as the back of the neck or armpits. They may also have other conditions related to insulin resistance, including:
Activ Continue reading