In the United States today, about 200,000 children aged 20 years or younger have type 1 diabetes (Article where came from on desk). Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) works very diligently to find a cure for this disease. To gather research for this topic, interviews were held with four people who are closely involved with JDRF and type 1 diabetes (T1D). In depth research was also done on the foundation and the horrible disease that takes people’s lives daily, known as T1D. T1D has many heartbreaking side effects, is very difficult to live with and can also be very expensive to maintain. JDRF is doing everything in their power to help put an end to T1D. JDRF is raising money to find a cure by holding fundraisers, working with scientists
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College student, Shannon is the older sister of Megan. Shannon commented on the major change that her family had to go through to make sure Megan stays healthy, “our family made several changes to our lifestyle after the diagnosis. The biggest change was our eating habits. We started purchasing low-carb foods, portioning out snacks, and we limited the amount of sugary drinks we kept in the house.” Shannon also stated that her family and her have to make sure that her sister is staying on top of her shots of insulin. She receives a shot in the morning, after every meal, and before bed. Shannon remembers it being hard to remember to make sure that the medication was taken at first but after awhile it became the new normal (S. Reilly).
Cost of T1D
Maintaining T1D is usually a heavy, costly burden that families have to face. JDRF states, “diabetes is one of the costliest chronic diseases (12).” It is expensive and often hard for families to put forth the money needed to treat this disease. JDRF also notes that the average medical bill for children and teenagers with diabetes in the United States is $9,000 and the average medical bill for children and teenagers who don’t have diabetes in the United States is $1,500. That means that it costs roughly $750 a month for a child with T1D as opposed to $125 a month for child without T1D (12).
Juvenile Diabetes Research
College student, Shannon is the older sister of Megan. Shannon commented on the major change that her family had to go through to make sure Megan stays healthy, “our family made several changes to our lifestyle after the diagnosis. The biggest change was our eating habits. We started purchasing low-carb foods, portioning out snacks, and we limited the amount of sugary drinks we kept in the house.” Shannon also stated that her family and her have to make sure that her sister is staying on top of her shots of insulin. She receives a shot in the morning, after every meal, and before bed. Shannon remembers it being hard to remember to make sure that the medication was taken at first but after awhile it became the new normal (S. Reilly).
Cost of T1D
Maintaining T1D is usually a heavy, costly burden that families have to face. JDRF states, “diabetes is one of the costliest chronic diseases (12).” It is expensive and often hard for families to put forth the money needed to treat this disease. JDRF also notes that the average medical bill for children and teenagers with diabetes in the United States is $9,000 and the average medical bill for children and teenagers who don’t have diabetes in the United States is $1,500. That means that it costs roughly $750 a month for a child with T1D as opposed to $125 a month for child without T1D (12).
Juvenile Diabetes Research