by Allison Blass

Advocacy News

NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL LEGISLATION PASSES

North Carolina General Assembly passed Senate Bill 911, the Care for School Children with Diabetes Act. The legislation passed unanimously in the state House and Senate on August 29, 2002. It must now be signed by Governor Mike Easley (D). The legislation will have the North Carolina Board of Education adopt new guidelines for the care of children with diabetes. The guidelines will be based on those by the American Diabetes Association, an organization that worked towards passing this legislation. The Board of Education must adopt these guidelines by Janauary 15, 2003, and will be implemented for the 2003-2004 school year.

Source: American Diabetes Association

CWD's International Diabetes Youth Ambassadors

Children With Diabetes (CWD), a non-profit organization and online website, has created a new program called "International Diabetes Youth Ambassadors" with the goal of creating a community of young adults from around the world with a mission to cure diabetes.

Headed by former ADA National Youth Advocate Clare Rosenfeld, any kid or teen can fill out a form at their website to become an Ambassador. Rosenfeld says, "Our focus will be on educating each other and acting as a support network and inspiration for those kids who might want to get involved, but don't know where to start."

For more information, visit the CWD Ambassador website at http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/ambassador/

JDRF ADVOCATE WINS NATIONAL AWARD

12 year old Caroline Rowley, former JDRF Children's Congress Delegate and JDRF advocate, was honored with the Tony the Tiger award from Kellogg on Friday, August 16. Rowley won a free trip for two to New York City, a $10,000 scholarship and will be featured on boxes of Kellogg cereal starting in October.

Rowley won this honor after she saved the life of a track, when the coach suffered from a severe insulin reaction. Rowley's accomplishments don't stop there. She has raised $100,000 for JDRF, regularly speaks at JDRF events and at local businesses, and was the "Chair Kid" at the 2001 Children's Congress where she answered questions on CNN Live Today. She is now training a seeing-eye dog named Faith, in honor of a friend who is blind.

The 10 Tony the Tiger winners were awarded at an awards ceremony at the Hudson Theatre in Manhatten, hosted by Rosie O'Donnell and Tony the Tiger, and featuring Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys.

JDRF Seeks Diabetes Advocates for Children's Congress 2003

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is continuing is search for diabetes advocates for it's Children's Congress, to be held in Washington D.C. from June 21-June 24, 2003. The child must be between the ages of 2 and 17, and cannot be a returning Children's Congress Delegate.

Delegates will travel to Washington D.C. on an all expenses paid trip where they will attend a Senate Hearing, meeting with their Senators and Representatives to explain why they want Congress to fund a cure for diabetes, and meet actress and Type 1 diabetic Mary Tyler Moore.

For more information, visit www.jdrf.org

Research

INSULIN RESISTANCE CAUSES KIDNEY DISEASE

The September issue of Kidney International has published a study that says insulin resistance is a significant cause of kidney disease in people with Type 1 diabetes. Dr. Trevor Orchard, acting chairman of the department of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, says that exercise, weight loss and drugs may help people with Type 1 avoid kidney disease, because they may reduce or prevent insulin resistance. The 10 year study, Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complication Study, of 658 people focused on 485 people who did not have kidney disease at the beginning. They found that 56 of them had developed kidney disease sometime during the study. Researchers noticed a strong relationship between insulin resistance and kidney disease. They measured insulin resistance by using a calculation based on waist-to-hip ratio, hypertension status, and long-term blood sugar levels.

Source: HealthSCOUT

GLUCOWATCH FOR KIDS

The Glucowatch, a watch-like device that monitors blood sugar, has been approved for the use by children over the age of seven. The FDA gave its approval after trials were done with 66 Type 1 diabetics between the ages of 7 and 17. The trials showed that they were effective for detecting trends and patterns in glucose levels. However, the FDA warns that the Glucowatch should not be used to replace the finger prick when an accurate reading is necessary. The Glucowatch is manufactured by Cygnus, Inc, and is only available through a doctor.

Source: HealthSCOUT

JDRF GOES TO SWEDEN

On September 5, 2002, JDRF announced that it will fund nine stem cell research projects and two extensive stem cell research networks in Sweden as part of a new partnership with Swedish funding organizations. The funding totals $7.2 million. In March 2002, JDRF announced a partnership with the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Diabetes Association to fun stem cell research. Now specific projects are being given money based on their potential to make an impact in the search for a cure.

PIG CELLS USED IN TRANSPLANTS

Doctors at the University of Western Ontario, along with researchers from Mexico and the New Zealand company Diatranz, have found that injecting insulin-producing cells from pigs have allowed some Type 1 diabetics to reduce, or even stop, their need for insulin injections.

12 patients, all between the ages of 11 and 17, have had the pig cell transplants. Researchers announced that half showed improved insulin production less than six months after undergoing the transplants. Two of the 12 have been insulin-free for a year, and another currently requires on 75% of the pre-transplant insulin amount. The other six patients have had no improvement, but they have also not suffered any complications.

To suppress the autoimmune system, researchers mixed pig Sertoli cells with the islets. These cells have a special ability to subdue T-cells, which are the cells the autoimmune system uses to fight anything foreign in the body. So far, none of the subjects have rejected the animal cells.

The researchers believe that the transplants from pigs will be more successful because it does not require autoimmune suppressant drugs, which can be harmful to the body, and there is an abundance of the pig islet cells.

However, there are many doctors who believe this is dangerous, especially because the study is done on children. "I'm pretty surprised, given that children are usually the last population you would go to for this sort of highly experimental study," Dr. John Vandermeulen, a diabetes specialist at McMaster Children's Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario told CTV.