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Islets of Hope diabetes industry press releases |
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For more information contact Lynda Steinbeck, Executive Director, JDRF Inland Empire Chapter at lsteinbeck@jdrf.org. Pinon Hills Child Sabrina Jasper, age 12, Goes to Washington, D.C. as California Delegate for Children’s Congress 2007 Child Delegates Testify at
Congressional Hearing on Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes and Urge Legislators to Pinon Hills, California, June 4, 2007 –Sabrina Jasper, age 12, is one of 150 children throughout the U.S. selected to represent her state on Capitol Hill this summer to remind Congress and the Administration of the critical need to find a cure for a disease they live with every day— type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. These children—ages 4 to 17, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia and all diagnosed with type 1 diabetes—will converge on Washington, D.C., to tell their stories and urge lawmakers to help find a cure during the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Children’s Congress 2007, from June 17 to 20, 2007. Sabrina, who lives in Pinon Hills, has been named a delegate representing California in the Children’s Congress. JDRF is the world’s largest charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research. Led by JDRF International Chairman Mary Tyler Moore, JDRF’s Children’s Congress 2007 will include Congressional visits by the child delegates and a Congressional hearing where Ms. Moore, select delegates, researchers, and business and community leaders will testify on the need for continued funding for research on diabetes and related complications. Ms. Moore and the child delegates, under the theme of “Promise to Remember Me,” will ask Members of Congress to support an increase in federal funding for diabetes research. “Anyone who has been there will tell you that the day you or your child is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes is a day you will never forget,” said Ms. Moore, who has had type 1 diabetes for more than 35 years. “Members of Congress now have the chance to give these children and their parents another day they will never forget. Instead, this time will be a day of hope instead of a day of fear.” Sabrina Jasper, who was selected to Children’s Congress through JDRF’s Inland Empire Chapter, was diagnosed with diabetes when she was five years old. The day-to-day fight to stay alive is a struggle for her and her family. Sabrina says, “Finding a cure for diabetes is the most important thing to me right now because last year I found that I am allergic to one of the insulin medications I need to take. Now my blood sugar is high no matter what I eat! For me, research is the best answer. I have to take the road to make every effort to bring about awareness and finding a cure for diabetes.” Pam Edmonds, of Charlottesville, Virginia, is Chair of Children’s Congress 2007. Ms. Edmonds, her husband Frank and daughter Holland, who was a delegate in 2005 and has type 1 diabetes, serve as the designated Chair Family. "Having the privilege of being a part of Children's Congress 2005, Holland and our entire family understands what a vital role this event plays in the furthering of our mission to cure diabetes. We are honored and excited to be leading such an extraordinary group of delegates who truly will have all the Washington leaders knowing they need to 'Promise to Remember' all of us who crave a true cure for diabetes and its complications." Children’s Congress has been held every other year since 1999; it has become the largest media and grassroots event held in support of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. For this once-in-a-lifetime experience, the newly-selected delegates will follow in the footsteps of their predecessors in raising national awareness about type 1 diabetes and participating in personal advocacy at the highest levels of the United States government. In type 1 diabetes – the most serious and complicated form of the disease that accounts for some $132 billion in annual health care costs in the U.S. alone – a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, the hormone that enables people to get energy from food. To survive, people with type 1 diabetes must test their blood sugar levels up to four or more times a day by pricking their fingers to draw blood, and then administering insulin through multiple, daily injections, or the use of a continuous infusion insulin pump.While trying to balance insulin with the amount of food eaten (which raises blood sugar) and exercise (which lowers blood sugar), people with type 1 diabetes must constantly be prepared for potential life-threatening hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemic (high blood sugar) reactions. The long-term complications of diabetes include blindness, heart attack, kidney failure, stroke, nerve damage and amputations. While usually diagnosed in childhood, type 1 diabetes can also be diagnosed in adults.About JDRF JDRF was founded in 1970 by the parents of children with juvenile diabetes - a disease that strikes children suddenly, makes them insulin dependent for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications. Since inception, JDRF has provided more than $1 billion to diabetes research worldwide. More than 80 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and education about research. JDRF's mission is constant: to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. For more information, visit the JDRF web site at www.jdrf.org or call 800-533-CURE. | ||||||||
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