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November is internationally recognized as National Diabetes Awareness Month, an awareness campaign devoted to helping people who are or could be diagnosed with diabetes. Organizers hope to gain a better understanding of how to prevent, provide therapy, and one day possibly cure all forms of diabetes.
The theme of the 2013 NDAM campaign is ‘Diabetes by Numbers: We’re All Counting on You.’ In Canada, the number of people diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes continues to grow each year, as does the cost of providing therapy for the condition.
· As many as 300,000 Canadians currently live with Type 1 Diabetes
· The rate of children under the age of 14 living with Type 1 Diabetes is expected to grow by 3 percent globally
· However, Type 1 Diabetes can affect both children and adults at any age in life
· People living with Type 1 Diabetes can see their life expectancies decrease by as much as 15 years
There are many warning signs that a child or adult could be living with Type 1 Diabetes. Extreme thirst, loss of appetite, sudden weight loss, and unrelenting urination are all physical symptoms of the condition. These warning signs can often result in drowsiness, lethargy, heavy breathing, and in some cases, unconsciousness.
Organizers of the NDAM campaign encourage families who have someone diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes to share their stories on social media using the hashtag #countingonu to help raise awareness for the condition.
There are a growing number of therapeutic possibilities for the condition every year, including cases where patients received umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants. Event organizers hope to raise as many donations as possible, with all the money being used to support research into other options for diabetic therapy.