Ok as an adult onset type 2, perhaps it doesn't seem so important to find a cure, nor perhaps for me as an adult onset type 1 but I think you would feel very differently if you were the parent of a child with diabetes, or a young person themselves.It may be that perhaps the petition is worded too loosely just saying 'diabetes', but certainly I think government money would be well spent on research into a cure for type 1. It's perhaps not surprising that on a recent type 1 thread asking whether a person would rather be cured or have a million pounds, the younger people wanted a cure.
A young child diagnosed with type 1, using present day technology,will have to inject 1500 times a year, test at least 2000+ times a year, look at every meal and calculate its carb content, think twice before they exercise,have the anxieties associated with hypos (only this week I read of a distressed 11 year old crying during a hypo), have several hospital visits with blood tests.
Because of relatively good care in the UK, the mortality rate for the under 20s is low, it is still significantly higher than for those who do not have diabetes. As the child grows up they may develop problems with kidneys, eyes, nerves and heart. These problems occur more with poor control but also with variable control...so if the child or young person has a time with problems causing a period where they lose sight of the ball, (an most of us have problems at some time) it can come back to haunt them later. Even with 'good' control complications develop; they are not absent with A1cs in the 5s. If female, any pregnancy will be high risk.
The rate of childhood type 1 is increasing by almost 4% a year, the cost of care for a lifetime with diabetes is extremely high
On a diabetes support forum we always try to accentuate the positive and we try our best to eliminate the problems but this doesn't make them go away.
As one of the most prevelent diseases of childhood, don't you think diabetes is deserving of funding for a cure? or should it be left to pharmaceutical companies with a vested interest in treatment ?
