About three years ago, I spent some time reading some online self help literature, as I was wont to do. And I read that you should make long term commitments and goals. A commitment of 5 years towards a goal is what you have to do to see what really matters, and to really motivate you. So right then and there, I made a goal...I would give five years, whatever I was willing to give to the cure for diabetes.
The past three years weren't really as productive as I had hoped. I came up with a lot of ideas to spread awareness of the disease, but still I feel like I haven't done enough. There are three large organizations devoted to this disease alone. The JRDF, DRI, and ADA, are the three main organizations that focus on Research, Community Awareness, Lobbying for diabetes. They have all done positive strides towards defeating this disease.
I've looked at Diabetes Type One in depth, and I find that it's an immune disease, not an endocrine disorder, so far as the research has come.
There's a lot of research on how to replace the immune damaged pancreas, but not a lot of studies on prevention. Right now they are struggling to find the genes which may predict diabetes.
There's barely any literature on Diabetes. There is vague references to it in movies, aside from Steel Magnolias, which offers a falsified version of the disease, pretending that diabetics can't or shouldn't get pregnant.
People who don't get the disease don't care about the disease, don't think it's a reality and aren't interested in talking about it. People who have the disease are ostracized by their blood pricking and needle rituals, and are ashamed to talk about the disease.
Diabetes isn't a new thing, either. People in middle ages noticed the "sweet water," urine, "siphoning" out of people and connected it with the imminent death. You can't say, "We've made progress, our patients are still alive!" Really, there's been a lot of research without a lot of progress. Lifestyle changes, yes, but in curing a disease that's literally been around since the Dark Ages, we fail grotesquely.
What is the individual to do?
There are ways that I could go.
I could write something, make videos, talk about diabetes statistics and why it should receive more attention than the other top ten killers.
I could do research myself. I'm always drawn to the movie, Lorenzo's Oil, where the parents find the cure for their sons rare disease, too late for their son, but helping countless other children. Pretty idealistic, but where many have failed, one may triumph.
I still feel that without the proper training, I have a much better chance at discovering the cure than educated people. Most cures were found by people messing around in a lab. But it is the much harder. I don't have my inspiration around anymore, my poor grandmother passing away several years ago. She had type one diabetes. And thus formed within me was the plan to rid people of this debilitating disease. It was a sky reach, but I believe her spirit is pressing me forward.
Not to mention that I need to make some capital on the side for clothes and fixing up the house, we have expensive repairs that need to be done. So all this would be in addition to working 30 hours a week.
It all comes down to what me as an individual can do. If I'm feeling low, I can write, if I'm feeling high, I can read articles. If' I'm mixed up, I can go to diabetes.com to soothe my soul that something's being done. I feel for researchers, there's got to be repetitive micro tasks that they need help doing or research they can outsource. But I know it's a dangerous business, cutthroat disease pirates, all hunting for that one thing, the grant. Maybe they need grant writers. Because the grant's not the aim, the research is.
This has been a long article, I'll leave it at that.
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