I heard on the news this morning that today is the birthday of Mary Tyler Moore, who’s long been the biggest celebrity advocate for people with Type 1 diabetes — which she herself has. It got me thinking about what a difference it can make to have someone famous advocate on your behalf (or, for that matter, come down with your disease). This is  ridiculous in one way (shouldn’t I care about clean water in Africa without having Matt Damon involved?).  But, on the other hand, it makes perfect sense: we care more...

Jay Cutler is currently the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears. He was drafted 11th overall in the 2006 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, and was selected to play in the Pro Bowl in 2008.  Jay played college football at Vanderbilt, where he still holds a number of University records – total offense, TD passes, passing yards and completions. On May 1, 2008, Cutler announced that he had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  Since then he’s not only continued to be a football superstar, he’s also become a leader...

Jay Cutler has not let type 1 diabetes hold him back from doing what he loves. Since being diagnosed after his second season in the NFL he has worked to help inspire children with diabetes to achieve their goals, and let them see that diabetes doesn’t have to stop them from being who they want to be. The Chicago Bears quarterback teamed up with Eli Lilly and Company to raise money for kids with diabetes, and share his own story in a program called Touchdowns for Diabetes. As a part of the program Cutler has created a series...

Jay Cutler said he’ll look into wearing an insulin pump during the offseason to manage his type 1 diabetes. According to the Chicago Sun-Times Cutler tried outfitting himself with one in Denver a short time after being diagnosed but had difficulty keeping it on. “I tried it out probably a month after I was diagnosed, and we went into camp wearing it, the offseason workouts,” he said. ”It kept falling off and we had problems keeping it on, and I didn’t want to have to keep putting a new one on every day...

Jay Cutler has had a bad run so far this season.  He is 0-3 in nationally televised night games, throwing 11 of his NFL-high 17 interceptions. There has been speculation that this may be sight related but Ron Turner, the Bears offensive coordinator, doesn’t think this is the case. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Turner commented on the issue. ”I think it is totally a coincidence, I really do,” Turner said. ”It’s not a situation where it’s night, it’s prime time and maybe he’s trying...

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler visited the University of Chicago’s Kovler Diabetes Center on World Diabetes Day, Chicago Press Release reported. Cutler met with teenage diabetics to discuss his experience with diabetes. The quarterback recently recorded six videos that detail his experience with diabetes, its impact on his life and sports career, and how he manages the disease as a professional athlete. Cutler, the patients, and their parents also toured the research laboratories at the Kovler Diabetes Center to observe cutting-edge...

Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler is producing a series of videos (as well as running a fundraising effort) about his life with Type 1 diabetes, The New York Times reports. He’s not the first athlete to go public about living with the disease — as NYT writer Tara Parker-Pope points out, we’ve also  got Gary Hall Jr., the three-time Olympic swimmer, as well as Team Type 1, a team of Type 1 cyclists that raced across the country this summer in record time. (As someone who has participated in a cross-country bicycle...

ESPN reports that Chicago Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler, has teamed up with Eli Lilly and Company and created a series of videos to help educate people about diabetes.  In the videos Cutler discusses a period in 2007, while playing for the Denver Broncos, that he suffered constant fatigue and severe weight loss.  He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  Cutler hopes his videos will inspire children diagnosed with diabetes, and let them know that the disease is not the end of the world.