Originally published June 22 2005
Diabetic children and teens plan to lobby for more stem cell research in Washington, DC
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The Miami Herald has an article profiling children and teens with type 1 diabetes who will be attending the Children's Congress in Washington DC to ask for more research for a cure.
He was diagnosed at 15 months old when he almost went into a diabetic coma.
When his first-grade class was treated to cup cakes, an insensitive teacher told him, ''You'll die if you eat it.'' He ate one anyway, and when he checked his blood sugar he realized he could have eaten two.
Two years ago, his teacher thought his insulin pump was a cellphone and told him to give it to her.
And he remembers an assistant principal ripping away a friend's insulin pump because she thought it was a beeper.
The Boca Raton teen, along with 7-year-old Sebastian Vassas-Cay�n in Miami, have endured plenty with the disease, which causes the pancreas to produce little or no insulin.
They are among 150 children in the United States -- six from Florida -- with juvenile diabetes who will attend Children's Congress in Washington, D.C., June 18-22.
Along with actress Mary Tyler Moore, chairman of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, they will push for more research and a cure.
Cay�n, a JDRF board member of the South Florida Chapter, would like to see the Bush administration expand stem-cell research.
One facet of stem cell research involves using human embryos to get embryonic stem cells.
The issue has become controversial as some politicians say they believe life begins at conception, thus destroying an embryo is akin to destroying life.
JDRF is focused on stem cells as well as other research including perfecting islet transplantation, which involves removing the insulin-producing cells from a donor's pancreas and transferring them to a diabetes patient.
Zachary now wears an insulin pump to help control his blood sugar.
That's why she keeps an emergency kit with a prefilled syringe.
While some high school students worry about being accepted at the college of their choice, Zachary has other worries.
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