Technology Lets Young Diabetics Call The Shots

Daniel Mears

The Detroit News

What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic, genetically determined, debilitating disease that affects every organ system. Insulin is not a cure, but merely a life support.

There are two major types of diabetes -- Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 (juvenile) is caused by the autoimmune destruction of the insulin producing cells of the pancreas and is usually diagnosed in childhood. People with Type 2 produce insulin, but their bodies do not use it effectively. Type 2 is usually diagnosed in adulthood.

A Cure At Hand?

Canadian researchers injected pancreas cells near the liver in eight diabetes patients. The cells took up residence and began producing the long-lost insulin that controls blood-sugar levels. The patients had to take medication so that their bodies wouldn't reject the cells, but they no longer required insulin shots.

A larger study is scheduled to begin this summer. If researchers can find a better source for the cells (the cells for the Canadian study came from brain-dead humans), it could mean the end of insulin-dependent diabetes, said Dr. James Shapiro, who led the study.

More Information:

• The American Diabetes Association, http://www.diabetes.org/ -- (800-232-3472)
• The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International, http://www.jdf.org/ -- (800-JDF-CURE).
• Children with Diabetes, http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/
• Canadian Diabetes Association, http://www.diabetes.ca/

By Shane Kidd

Here's a number: 10,220.

That's the number of insulin injections I have taken in the 14 years I have lived with diabetes. When I was diagnosed at age 3, my family and I were told that there would be a cure in about 10 years. With news that Canadian researchers have developed a cell transplant technique that eliminates the need for insulin, that prediction might soon come true.

Diabetes affects 10 million Americans, 600,000 of them in Michigan. However, in the decade-and-a-half I have been a diabetic, there have been great advances in the technology that help diabetics manage their blood sugar levels.

Because diabetics should not eat a lot of sugar and need to exercise on a regular basis, diabetes has always been a discipline for me. I must exercise every day, I must take my injections every day and I have to watch what I eat every day. When I spend the night at a friend's house, I have to let the parents know that I am a diabetic, whether I want to or not. Even though I have great control of the disease, there is always the possibility that my sugar level could suddenly go low and I would need to eat sugar immediately. So it helps when the people I am around are aware of the condition.

Most of the time, I do things and act like any other 17-year-old. It's when my sugar levels either go too high (because of too much sugar in my blood and not enough insulin or exercise) or too low (because there is already enough insulin in my body) that my personal routine changes. If I am playing sports all day or at a dance, I need frequent snacks, so I have the energy to continue to function like everyone else.

In extreme cases, when my sugar levels fluctuate too much between high and low, I tend to be a little more moody and the smallest thing can set me off in a fiery rage.

Ever since kindergarten, I have explained my situation to my classmates and usually show how I test my blood and take my injections. In the fifth grade, I passed out on the playground before lunch. Luckily a couple of girls from my class listened to what I had said a few days earlier about what to do for a diabetic, and came to my aid.

When I lived in England for four years, the medical attention given to diabetics made it seem as though I had stepped back in time. Europe in general is not a place that appears to be concerned with dietary foods and diet drinks, which makes it hard to find the little snacks that make diabetes management easier in America. However, it was a lot easier to exercise in England because most things are within walking distance.

With promising new technology and the public's growing awareness of the disease, I firmly believe this new millennium will hold the cure to a disease that has conquered many.

Sure, diabetes gets in my way a lot, but the way I look at it, when there is a cure, I will be one of the few people out there who thoroughly appreciates a candy bar!

Copyright © 2000 The Detroit News.

This article posted June 25, 2000.