To: National Desk, Health Reporter

Contact: Joana Casas of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 212-479-7560, mcasas@jdrf.org

NEW YORK, Oct. 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the world's largest charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research, is urging people to learn more about the symptoms and health effects of a devastating and unpreventable disease that affects as many as three million Americans. Every year, more than 13,000 young children are diagnosed with type 1 (or juvenile) diabetes, a chronic autoimmune disease in which a person's pancreas stops producing insulin -- a hormone that enables people to turn food into energy.

Type 1 diabetes usually strikes in childhood or adolescence, and is most often diagnosed before the age of 30. To stay alive, people with type 1 diabetes must take multiple insulin injections daily or continually infuse insulin through a pump and test their blood sugar. Insulin is not a cure nor does it prevent the debilitating complications associated with the disease which can include kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputations, heart attack and stroke.

Know the Symptoms

During November, JDRF is urging people to educate themselves about the symptoms of this devastating disease. "Knowing the symptoms of type 1 diabetes is critical because the disease can be mistaken for more common illnesses, such as the flu," said Dr. Richard Insel, executive vice president of research for JDRF. "Knowing the warning signs can change a life." These symptoms may occur suddenly:

-- Extreme thirst

-- Frequent Urination

-- Sudden vision changes

-- Sugar in urine

-- Fruity, sweet or wine-like odor on breath

-- Increased appetite

-- Sudden weight loss

-- Drowsiness, lethargy

-- Heavy, labored breathing

-- Stupor, unconsciousness

If your child exhibits one or more of these symptoms, call a doctor immediately. An early diagnosis goes a long way toward preventing serious health problems and premature death.

Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and costs our nation over $132 billion per year. In addition, diabetes is a leading cause of adult blindness and end- stage kidney failure, and reduces longevity by approximately 15 years. The disease is particularly serious for women, making them more prone to an early death due to stroke and heart disease and causes high-risk pregnancies and birth defects. Unlike type 2 (adult-onset), type 1 diabetes is neither preventable nor correctable.

Promising Developments

Research confirms that current diabetes technology is inadequate: some studies have found that even patients who aggressively manage their disease-measuring their blood glucose an average of nine times a day-spent less than 30 percent of the day in normal range. The rest of the time, their glucose was either too high (which can lead to complications including eye, heart, kidney, and nerve disease), or too low (which can cause seizures, comas, and death).

But new technology is revolutionizing diabetes care and management. Continuous glucose sensors read glucose levels on a minute-by-minute basis using a small sensor inserted under the skin, which continuously transmits data to a hand-held device. Two devices have been approved by the FDA earlier this year and another one is expected to receive approval before the end of the year.

Studies have found that patients who use continuous glucose sensors spent 26 percent more time in normal glucose range, and have statistically significant improvements in HbA1c levels, an important measure of longer-term glucose control.

In order to expedite the availability of this rapidly emerging technology for people with type 1 diabetes, JDRF launched the JDRF Artificial Pancreas Project in late 2005. Through research and advocacy, the JDRF project aims to speed regulatory approval, health insurance coverage, and clinician adoption of promising new technology such as continuous glucose sensors. Ultimately, JDRF expects to see the development of an artificial pancreas. This closed-loop mechanical system will integrate a real-time glucose sensor and an insulin delivery system. It will enable a person with diabetes to maintain normal glucose and HbA1c levels by automatically providing the right amount of insulin at the right time, just as the pancreas does in people without the disease.

For more information on type 1 diabetes, visit http://www.jdrf.org.

JDRF is the largest charitable funder of diabetes research in the world. 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, 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.

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/© 2006 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/

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