I recently held my 7th annual Community Family BBQ at Sunnidale Park. We had a great turnout, perfect weather and I spent a good part of the day in a dunk tank for a very worthy cause.
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has been an organization close to my heart for many years.
Several years ago, I met a young constituent by the name of Rebecca Morrison and she explained to me how difficult it is for young Canadians living with juvenile diabetes.
Sydney Grace, another Barrie youth, put together a book for me about what living with juvenile diabetes involves and how many Canadians are challenged by it every day.
Sydney and Rebecca have certainly made a strong case for why Canada can do more on the juvenile diabetes front. Since my contact with them, I have become very involved in raising awareness about Type 1 diabetes (T1D) on Parliament Hill.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. While the causes of this process are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved.
Type 1 diabetes strikes children and adults suddenly leaving them dependent on injected or pumped insulin for life, usually requiring approximately 1,460 needles a year (based on four per day) and 2,190 finger pokes a year to test blood-sugar levels in order to adequately regulate blood sugar to avoid complications.
Type 1 diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, adult blindness, stroke, heart disease, nerve damage and amputation and carries the constant threat of devastating complications.
More than 2.4 million Canadians have some form of diabetes including 240,000 with Type 1. Canada has the sixth-highest prevalence rate of T1D in children 14 years or younger in the world. The incidence rate of T1D is rising by 3% to 5% in Canada with the greatest rise occuring in five- to nine-year-olds. Diabetes affects 246 million people in the world and is expected to affect 380 million by 2025.
I believe, without a doubt, that increased research funding is the key to finding a cure for this sinister disease. Our government is playing a leadership role in this effort. The JDRF Canadian Clinical Trial Network (JDRF CCTN) is a groundbreaking endeavour to accelerate solutions for the management, care and cure of T1D.
Created in partnership with the government of Canada, funding for JDRF CCTN came from a commitment of $20 million from our government with an additional $13.9 million contribution from JDRF. The $33.9-million investment is helping accelerate the testing of new technologies and treatments for Canadians and individuals around the world living with T1D and its complications.
JDRF’s artificial pancreas project is an example of exciting new technologies in this fight against diabetes. By using a continuous glucose monitor device, people with diabetes can receive continuous real-time readings and data about trends in glucose levels. This could allow people with diabetes a little relief, and time free from having to constantly think about diabetes.
This study continues, along with other vital research, and it is my sincere hope that significant help is just around the corner. Canada is becoming a leader in juvenile diabetes research and I am very proud to help advance this cause.
On Nov. 4, I will be running in the 2012 New York City Marathon for JDRF. I hope to raise $10,000. An online donation page can be found at www.servingbarrie.com/jdrf. I would greatly appreciate your support.
– Patrick Brown is the MP for Barrie and chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes All Party Parliamentary Caucus.
