JDRF Scores A Victory In the U.K.

One of the most persistent issues is the media's failure to clarify that it's routine statements that diabetes can be prevented with changes to diet and exercise. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, and no amount of exercise or changes to diet can prevent the disease from occurring. In recent years, there has been some progress in North America, largely due to vocal complaints from parents of children with type 1 diabetes in California successfully lodged a complaint about advertisements for the state-sponsored California Diabetes Program and forced the state to add the "type 2 diabetes" label to be included in the message. This week, JDRF was able to accomplish a similar feat in the U.K.

Type 1 Diabetes Campaigners Win Changes To Change4Life
January 15, 2009 - 2:00 PST

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the world's leading charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research, today welcomed an announcement from the United Kingdom's Department of Health that it will amend its Change4Life campaign.

Parents of children with type 1 diabetes have campaigned for clarification that obesity can be a contributing factor to type 2 diabetes, not type 1 diabetes.

TV advertising for the Change4Life campaign, which has been aired around children's programmes, said obesity can cause diabetes, but did not distinguish between the different types of diabetes.

A spokesperson from the Department of Health said that the complex information was put in a 'simple, brief form so that everyone can understand it.' The decision has now been taken to modify the Change4Life advertising materials.

Karen Addington, Chief Executive of JDRF commented: 'Although JDRF fully supports the objectives of the Change4Life campaign, the failure to distinguish type 1 from type 2 has caused great distress to families living with type 1, especially children.

'Since the start of the campaign, we have heard from many parents of children with type 1 diabetes whose children have been very upset by the advertising and who have been singled out, and even bullied, at school.

'Type 1 diabetes happens because a child's immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. It leaves them dependent on multiple daily blood tests and insulin injections or pump infusions, every day for the rest of their lives, just to stay alive. It is not linked to lifestyle factors like weight or exercise.

'There is nothing that children with type 1 diabetes, or their parents, could have done to prevent their condition, and there is currently no cure. This is why JDRF invests millions of pound each year into medical research to find the cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications.

We have been working with our supporters to highlight this worry to the Government and we welcome this change.'

For more information on the campaign, visit http://www.nhs.uk/change4life. For more information about JDRF's work to find the cure for type 1 diabetes, and how you can help, visit http://www.jdrf.org.uk/

URL for this article:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/135533.php

FDA New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year to all of my readers!

I've been quite busy with other parts of my life in recent weeks to do much blogging, and while I'm almost wrapped up with my annual review on diabetes research and the outlook for the coming year, I still had to share the following with everyone: an editorial on The Huffington Post.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, The Huffington Post is perhaps the ultimate blog. It's described as a news website and aggregated weblog founded by Arianna Huffington which features various news sources and columnists. The Huffington Post won the 2006 and 2007 Webby Awards for Best Politics Blog.

All I can say is that I couldn't agree MORE with the following post there:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeanne-lenzer-and-shannon-brownlee/a-new-years-resolution-fo_b_156571.html

Also, you will no doubt notice that a number of Diabetes Online Community bloggers have had postings asking you to sign an petition for the FDA. As one of the petition's sponsors, I am joining a group of patient advocates, doctors, diabetes educators and other community leaders who have banned together to "Ask the FDA to Better Serve Diabetes Patients' Needs". As part of this, we're also urging the soon-to-be-named new FDA leadership to recognize the urgent need for more safe and effective diabetes treatment options (and hopefully improve patient outcomes as a result), to reduce barriers to innovation, and imploring the FDA for the immediate creation of a Diabetes Advisory Council, whose goal would be to improve options for patients. Please see the online petition and letter at www.healthefda.com, or visit the widget I've posted on the right-side margin of my blog.

I hope to have a more detailed posting reviewing 2008 and covering the outlook for 2009 when it comes to diabetes care, treatment and progress towards cures in a few days!