JDRF - Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

One hundred Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Youth Ambassadors aged 3 to 40, all with type 1 diabetes, will converge on Canberra to plead for continued government funding for type 1 diabetes research on 18 March.

Supported by a crowd of family members, total numbers at Kids in the House will hit 300. They are visiting Canberra as representatives of the 140,000 children and adults in Australia with type 1 diabetes, and the tens of thousands more who care for them.

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JDRF 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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A JDRF-funded clinical trial has shown that a drug used to treat certain types of cancer can protect beta cells, and therefore preserve insulin production, in people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

The trial, conducted in the US through the international Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet consortium and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, provides the first conclusive evidence that it is possible to target particular types of immune cells to reduce or prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes.

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JDRF-funded researchers at the University of Queensland have launched a clinical trial into a new blood test they hope will be able to accurately predict people at risk of type 1 diabetes.

The test is the result of research that has identified a link between the onset of type 1 diabetes and a special type of protein called NF-Kappa B. In a healthy immune system, this protein is an important component of the immune response to infection. In people with type 1 diabetes, and seemingly also in people at risk of developing type 1 diabetes, this protein is constantly activated resulting in the autoimmune destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.

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The Sydney Opera House joined 600 major global landmarks on Saturday night by turning blue for World Diabetes Day 2009.

Across the world, blue landmarks like the London Eye, the Empire State Building and Tokyo Tower helped to turn global attention to diabetes. Two JDRF Youth Ambassadors, Matt and Nikita, were on hand in Sydney to talk about the special challenge of type 1 diabetes.

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New clinical trial data suggests certain blood pressure medications can significantly slow the progression of diabetic eye disease.

US researchers have published data from a five-year multi-center clinical trial that demonstrates that the use medications commonly used to treat high pressure can help to prevent and slow progression of diabetic retinopathy.

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A JDRF trial shows that continuous glucose monitor (CGM) devices help to maintain tight blood sugar levels whilst lowering the risk of dangerously low blood sugar.

There is extensive research to show that tight blood glucose control is the best way to prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes complications such as kidney failure, retinopathy and heart disease. According to results from the Diabetes Complications and Control Trial, every one point reduction in HbA1C reduces the risk of long-term complications by approximately 40%.

Unfortunately, research has also shown that one of the hurdles to tight blood sugar control is the risk of hypoglycemia – both real and perceived.

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People with type 1 diabetes who have already been successful in achieving recommended blood sugar goals can further benefit from using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices, according to results of a major multi-center clinical trial by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Findings of the study were published online by the journal Diabetes Care, available at http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/early/recent.

According to the JDRF study, using CGM devices enables people who have achieved excellent control (with HbA1c levels below 7 percent) to continue to tightly manage their diabetes while cutting down on the frequency of low blood sugars, called hypoglycemia. Research has shown that good blood sugar control is a key factor in reducing the risk of the devastating long-term complications of type 1 diabetes, such as blindness and kidney disease — but that the fear of low blood sugar emergencies often prevents many people from achieving tight control, and remains a constant concern for those who manage their type 1 diabetes well. The landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) showed that with intensive insulin therapy, excellent blood glucose control was obtained, but at the expense of a considerable increase in hypoglycemia. Today, the JDRF study has shown that, with CGM, hypoglycemia can be reduced while maintaining excellent blood sugar control.

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A recent study shows that a new type of stem cell transplantation may help people with type 1 diabetes become insulin free and increase C-peptide levels.

Researchers have used a transplant of a patient’s own treated blood cells to increase and preserve beta cell function in young people recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

The research team, from the US and Brazil, hoped that if they intervened early enough they could wipe out and then rebuild the body’s immune system by using stem cells, preserving a reservoir of beta cells and allowing them to regenerate.

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