Diary Alert
9 February 2010
JDRF: Level 4, 80-84 Chandos Street, St Leonards NSW 2065 Tel 02 9966 0400 Fax 02 9966 0172 WWW www.jdrf.org.au
Put some Jelly in your Belly in May
Help the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation find a cure for type 1 diabetes
by putting a little jelly in your belly during May - national Jelly Baby Month.
Jelly Baby Month raises funds for research
to find a cure, which is desperately
needed. Australia has one of the highest rates of type 1 diabetes in the world.
Type 1 diabetes is a serious disease. People with this lifelong disease need up to
six insulin injections every day or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump,
just to stay alive. Diabetes can lead to devastating long term health complications,
like blindness, kidney failure and heart disease.
Jelly babies can be a lifesaver for people with type 1 diabetes because they can’t
control their own blood sugar, so a quick sugar fix is essential in an emergency
when blood glucose falls dangerously low.
Unlike type 2 diabetes, the causes of type 1 are not related to everyday diet or
lifestyle.
So please, put some jelly in your belly for the 140,000 Aussies with type 1
diabetes in May.
Jelly Baby products are available from Woolworths and
Safeway supermarkets,
Amcal pharmacies, online or from volunteers. For more information, visit
Type 1 Diabetes – the facts
There are 140,000 Australians with type 1 diabetes and with five new cases every day, Australia has one of the
highest rates in the world. The number of Australian children being diagnosed with this disease is increasing by 3%
every year. Typically striking young people, type 1 diabetes destroys the ability to produce insulin, which is vital for
life. It requires an essential daily regime of multiple injections or continuous infusion of insulin through a pump, as
well as 6 –
8 finger-prick blood tests. Type 1 diabetes is associated with a significantly increased risk of serious
health complications. An autoimmune disease, type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by a complex mixture of
genetic and environmental factors
but not
by an unhealthy
diet or obesity. The Juvenile Diabetes Research
Foundation is the world’s largest not-for-profit supporter of diabetes research and has invested over US$1.3 billion
since inception in 1970. The mission of JDRF is constant: to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through
the support of research.
For more information please contact Lyndal Howison on 0411 110 717
NEWS 
