{"id":45069,"date":"2016-10-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/until-theres-a-diabetes-cure-we-need-better-tools\/"},"modified":"2016-10-31T04:15:37","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T08:15:37","slug":"until-theres-a-diabetes-cure-we-need-better-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=45069","title":{"rendered":"Until There’s a Diabetes Cure, We Need Better Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the surprising announcement this month that the FDA had cleared the way for Medtronic\u2019s 670G hybrid system<\/a>, sometimes referred to as an artificial pancreas, most people with diabetes were swinging their pump tubing with glee or juggling their (safety-capped) syringes in delight. And with good reason. We are on the cusp of a flood of new tools that will lessen the daily \u2013 make that hourly \u2013 burden of diabetes. It’s exciting. It makes my heart race in a good way, as I now know for certain that the tools to make life better for my daughter with Type 1 diabetes are not just a dream<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But there was a segment of our diabetes community \u2013 and all segments need to be heard and understood \u2013 that wasn\u2019t all that jazzed. I want a biological cure, they said. Don\u2019t talk to me until you\u2019ve got that true cure. Which has been a kind of background buzz for a couple of years. A widely circulated petition is calling for major organizations \u2013 like JDRF \u2013 to fund less near term treatment research (and advocacy) and more \u201ctrue cure\u201d research.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to debate what a \u201ccure\u201d is here, but I don\u2019t consider a smart pump, even a wickedly smart one, a cure. Nor do I consider a device placed under the skin and replaced every couple of years a \u201ctrue cure.\u201d That said, what this segment of the population is saying is \u2013 put simply \u2013 better tools don\u2019t excite me. Put more toward the biological cure. And to that I say, as many have said before me, \u201cThose who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The diabetes community has been here before, and in the late 1980\u2019s, had the same outcry. We want a cure! JDRF<\/a> (JDF at the time) listened, embraced the movement, and gave it a name:\u00a0TORIAC (Tohr-eee-ack).<\/p>\n

TORIAC was an acronym for The Only Remedy Is A Cure<\/em>. Our community threw itself behind it. By funding less innovation for daily care and focusing instead on the golden ring \u2013 the perfect biological cure \u2013 we would change the world, find that cure, and annihilate Type 1 diabetes<\/p>\n

Only here\u2019s what happened: The 90s came to a close with no cure. Sure, important major advances like islet cell transplant took place. There were advances in stem cell research. And more. We did move forward, but not one single thing from the TORIAC initiative changed lives in the immediate moment. TORIAC ended with many of those who had screamed for it feeling bitter, disappointed, and hopeless. That\u2019s because even if we say all we want is the perfect end result, we humans need to experience tangible success, real time improvements, and better quality of life. It\u2019s human nature. Even though great scientific advances were realized during TORIAC, because the small improvements didn\u2019t occur, it didn\u2019t feel like a success.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what led so many JDF \u2013 now JDRF \u2013 volunteers to move into the 21st century saying, \u201cWe need technological progress. We need improvements to make our and our loved ones\u2019 lives better while we continue on that road toward a cure.\u201d That\u2019s where things like Jeffrey Brewer\u2019s brave initial $1 million donation to push JDRF toward funding research for technology came in. As has been said many times in the past two weeks, it was Brewer\u2019s plea (and donation) at a JDRF International Board meeting that launched the entire artificial pancreas project. Then, Brewer pushed all to embrace the idea of supercharging the race toward smarter pumps and CGMs, the stepping stones needed for an artificial pancreas. That\u2019s where the increased funding in advocacy came in. That\u2019s when JDRF\u2019s new embrace of outreach and support in daily living with diabetes began.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also what led to JDRF funding the first \u2013 and extremely successful\u2014multi-site human clinical studies of CGMs. It\u2019s what motivated JDRF to give the first funding towards smart insulin research.<\/p>\n

So when the FDA news came out and folks spoke out saying, basically, TORIAC, I remembered that history. And since I was there for the end of TORIAC and the beginning of the next phase, I hoped that we would learn from that history and not repeat it. As for those who were part of research advocacy before, during, and after TORIAC I say this: it\u2019s a sign of a good, forward-thinking community when you learn from what didn\u2019t work. No one will ever stop caring about a cure. But we need progress that makes daily life better until there is a true cure for Type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile I will pedal my bike and work for donations and speak up until that true cure is found. But it\u2019s not the only thing that matters, and it\u2019s far from the only thing that improves lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The diabetes community has been here before, and in the late 1980\u2019s, had the same outcry. We want a cure! 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