Chloe from Roseville College and Type 1 Diabetes in Teenagers and Young People

I recently met with Chloe Van Dyck, a high school student who lives in my electorate. Chloe came to speak to me on behalf of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. JDRF supports research towards finding a cure for type-1 Diabetes.

Chloe took some time to educate me, as her local MP, on what it means to grow up with Type-1 Diabetes.   She was diagnosed when in primary school after the sudden onset of symptoms which lasted for a week (thirst and hunger, tiredness and nausea) for almost a week.  Following a five day stint in hospital she was eventually diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes.

Type-1 diabetes differs from Type-2 diabetes in that it has a genetic cause (whereas Type-2 diabetes tends to come on in response to lifestyle factors.)  Type-1 diabetes is caused by the immune system mistakenly turning on itself, destroying beta cells within the pancreas and removing the body's ability to produce insulin. Insulin allows the body to process sugar to create energy; without insulin, the body is unable to process food.

In recent times, the group experiencing the highest growth rate in diagnosis has been those between the age of 0 and 3.

Chloe’s Type-1 Diabetes manifests itself in two critical risks which she must guard against: hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar) and hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar.) This can mean that sufferers must check their blood sugar every 2 hours.  This is a particularly difficult burden for the parents of young children with diabetes, as there is a risk of the child falling into a coma whilst sleeping if blood sugar drops too low during sleep.  To manage this risk, parents must wake their child every 2-3 hours to check their blood sugar.

At home we have a normal, boisterous 3 year old who can be quite demanding – it is hard to imagine how tough it would be if he had diabetes and my wife and I needed to regularly wake him every night.

But even for teenage sufferers like Chloe, diabetes creates a very substantial burden.  Chloe told me that she typically injects herself with insulin 5 times a day in order to regulate her blood sugar levels.   Thankfully the technology to do this makes it somewhat easier than twenty years ago – but it must still be a tough thing to have to do.

Chloe also told me of the work that JDRF are doing in Australia to address the rising levels of type-1 diabetes in Australia through research and fundraising.  To date JDRF has raised over $10 Million in Australia.  This is an impressive achievement, but more is needed – so that hopefully research can culminate in a cure.  The benefits to Chloe – and many people like her around Australia – would be immense.

For more information on Type-1 diabetes and JDRF, visit their website www.jdrf.org.au.