World Diabetes Day

Sir Frederick Banting was a Canadian scientist whose pioneering work using insulin to treat diabetes earned him the Nobel prize. He only lived to be 49 but on November 14 - what would have been his 125th birthday - Google has celebrated him with a commemorative Doodle.

WDD

World Diabetes Day (WDD) is celebrated annually on November 14. Led by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), World Diabetes Day was created in 1991 by IDF and the World Health Organization in response to growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by diabetes. World Diabetes Day became an official United Nations Day in 2006 with the passage of United Nation Resolution 61/225.

The World Diabetes Day campaign aims to:

• Be the platform to promote IDF advocacy efforts throughout the year
• Be the global driver to promote the importance of taking coordinated and concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health issue

The campaign is represented by a blue circle logo that was adopted in 2007 after the passage of the UN Resolution on diabetes. The blue circle is the global symbol for diabetes awareness. It signifies the unity of the global diabetes community in response to the diabetes epidemic.

The theme of World Diabetes Day (WDD) 2016 will be ‘Eyes on diabetes’. The key messages guiding the campaign are:

• Screening for type 2 diabetes is important to modify its course and reduce the risk of complications.
• Screening for diabetes complications is an essential part of managing all types of diabetes.

July is Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month

Juvenile arthritis (JA) is not a disease in itself. Also known as pediatric rheumatic disease, JA is an umbrella term used to describe the many autoimmune and inflammatory conditions or pediatric rheumatic diseases that can develop in children under the age of 16. Juvenile arthritis affects nearly 300,000 children in the United States.

Although the various types of juvenile arthritis share many common symptoms, like pain, joint swelling, redness and warmth, each type of JA is distinct and has its own special concerns and symptoms. Some types of juvenile arthritis affect the musculoskeletal system, but joint symptoms may be minor or nonexistent. Juvenile arthritis can also involve the eyes, skin, muscles and gastrointestinal tract.

The Arthritis Foundation understands the needs of families with juvenile arthritis are unique and pressing. Learn more about their research efforts through their work with CARRA and their involvement with PARTNERS.

Make Everyday National Cancer Survivors Day

Today I post because today is the day that someone very close to me was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. National Cancer Survivors Day is actually June 5th but I think that selecting only one day to remember those we have lost or to appreciate those whom we almost lost is just not acceptable. We must be grateful on a daily basis because those who we love can be taken from us in the blink of an eye. 

According to the National Cancer Survivors Day Official Website 

This year marks the 9th annual National Cancer Survivors Day®. We celebrate the millions of Americans who are cancer survivors. We honor these patients and survivors, as well as their family members, health care providers, and friends.

As part of the leadership team of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), we also commend the tireless efforts of the researchers who are working to find new and better ways to control and treat cancer more effectively and safely. This is a vitally important task. Although more and more cancer survivors will return to active and productive lives following their cancer diagnosis, for many of them, the long-term physical, psychological, and social effects of cancer and its treatments remain serious and challenging. Recognizing this, survivorship research remains a key component of NCI’s research portfolio.

The number of people living after a cancer diagnosis and treatment in the United States increased from 7 million in 1992 to 15.5 million in 2016, and is expected to rise to more than 20 million by 2026. Thus, whereas cancer survivors accounted for about 2.5 percent of the U.S. population in 1992, it is estimated that they will account for more than 5 percent of the population in 2026.

NCI-supported researchers agree that, as any cancer survivor will tell you, cancer is not ‘over’ when treatment ends; cancer has the capacity to affect all aspects of survivors’ lives, effects that can have profound and lasting import on their psychological and social health. Looking to the future, we are going to see growing efforts to find targeted and tailored cancer therapies that have the best chance of curing the illness, with the least toxicity to the survivor.  

Cancer not only affects the person but their family and friends as well. We must work together to help do what we can because we never know who it could happen to next. Cancer has no Bias. Everyday we should reflect on those who Cancer has taken from us and appreciate those that it has left with just the scars.