Diabetes Cure - What Would it Mean to Find a Cure for Diabetes?

Each year, there are hundreds of fundraisers that are designed to help raise money for research that will help to find a diabetes cure. These fundraising events occur across the country and include such activities as a School Walk for Diabetes, Tour de Cure, Step Out to Fight Diabetes, and so much more. With all of these fundraising events pulling in millions of dollars, the question is: what will it look like if researchers really are able to find a cure for diabetes?

In 2008 alone, the Tour de Cure raised nearly $17 million to support the American Diabetes Association. The mission of the American Diabetes Association is: to prevent and cure diabetes and improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. (source: http://tour.diabetes.org/site/PageServer?pagename=TC_homepage) This means that the millions of dollars raised by Tour de Cure riders were filtered back to the American Diabetes Association and put towards the association's education programs, research programs, advocacy programs, and more. So what will it mean if the ADA and other researchers are able to find a cure? Many things:

A world without diabetes...

Without diabetes, once-diagnosed diabetics would have proper insulin function. This would mean that their bodies would be able to produce enough insulin to properly metabolize the sugars in the foods that they eat. If this were to be the case, then these individuals would not suffer the devastating effects of high blood sugar levels, which can lead to a whole host of problems, including:

• Diabetic neuropathy - or loss of sensation in the extremities

• Complications of diabetic neuropathy - including infections that may lead to amputations

• Urinary incontinence

• Sexual health problems

• Depression

• Hypertension

• Vision problems, including glaucoma and blindness

• Nerve pain

• Kidney disease

• Obesity

• Many minor side effects, such as fatigue and extreme thirst

Moneysaved

Furthermore, in addition to the tremendous impact on the health of millions of Americans with diabetes, a cure for diabetes would have a huge financial impact. In 2007, the economic cost of diabetes is believed to be about $174 billion - and that figure is rising. One out of every five health care dollars is spent on caring for someone with diabetes and one in every ten health care dollars is attributed to diabetes, according to the ADA.

A cure for diabetes would not only correlate to an improved quality of life for millions of Americans, but it would save the nation billions of dollars each year. Until a cure can be found, individuals with diabetes or who are pre-disposed to diabetes can do their best to lose weight and adopt a healthy lifestyle so that they can prevent the onset of the condition or of related complications.

Sources:

http://www.imtypefree.com/forum

http://www.imtypefree.com/taxonomy/term/469

http://www.diabetes.org/communityprograms-and-localevents.jsp

http://main.diabetes.org/site/PageServer?pagename=OUT_homepage

http://tour.diabetes.org/

http://www.diabetes.org/schoolwalk

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-statitics/cost-of-diabetes-in-us.jsp