Life with Type 1 Diabetes,
medical research and the search for a cure

Path to a Cure is kindly supported by Novo Nordisk

Archive for February, 2010

Cooper is getting a new toy

Cooper Farrelly Cooper is getting a new toyTassie Mum Leah calls to her son while she is on the phone to JDRF. “Cooper, come and have some more sandwich! He’s actually on his way to a hypo right now,” she says.

Cooper is a bright, active, “beautiful” seven year old boy who has had type 1 diabetes since he was three. Back then, while visiting a sick brother in hospital, Cooper picked up a virus. Leah says he never really recovered.

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Medtronic Paradigm 100x100 Dramatically increased subsidy for insulin pumpsMinister for Health, Nicola Roxon MP, has announced an expansion of the Type 1 Diabetes Insulin Pump Program, with a dramatically increased government subsidy of up to 80% of the purchase price of an insulin pump.

The program was first launched in 2008 and provides a means-tested subsidy towards the purchase of an insulin pump for children under 18 who do not have access to private health insurance.

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Sleeping Boy Trial results show artificial pancreas reduces risk of overnight hypoglycemiaJDRF funded trails at Cambridge University have shown that an artificial pancreas dramatically reduces the risk of potentially deadly hypoglycemia.

Published today in the respected journal The Lancet, JDRF-funded researchers developed and successfully tested an automated management system, which was able to predict and prevent blood sugar fluctuations. Dramatic blood sugar drops, or hypoglycemia, have immediate and often devastating consequences and have an enormous impact on both individuals and families living with type 1 diabetes.

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beta Stress hormone prompts insulin production   New hope for regeneration of beta cells JDRF funded research in the US has found that a hormone associated with the body’s fight or flight instinct prompts beta cells to grow and to produce insulin.

These findings reinforce the potential of regeneration as a cure for diabetes and provide insights for discovering new approaches to treat people with diabetes by restoring or regenerating their ability to produce insulin.

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