T1D Markers

When the nurse came to help get Stella set up with her insulin pump in September 2019, he commented that he seemed to be the one from their office who takes the sibling groups. If one sibling is diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), other siblings have a one in ten chance of becoming T1D. After Oliver’s diagnosis, Stella and Miles began participating in a siblings study that looked for five markers that seemed to indicate a predisposition to T1D.

Stella did not have any of the markers. On August 4, 2019, she was diagnosed with T1D.

Miles has one marker. He has gone to the hospital a few times for further testing. We haven’t talked about it much, but we wonder if it is a matter of time before Miles is diagnosed with T1D.

This is where the research supported by JDRF is really important to us. One of the areas JDRF supports is immunotherapy. With T1D, the immune system mistakes the body’s own cells as invaders and attacks the insulin-producing beta cells. JDRF funds research that aims to permanently turn off the deadly attack that causes Type 1 Diabetes.

T1D is one of the only major autoimmune diseases that still does not have a drug therapy to stave off, slow, or cure the illness. But researchers are getting close.

If such a vaccination were available today, Miles would benefit.

Please consider making a donation to JDRF. Our STRONGER TOGETHER team would like to to raise $5,000 this year. Please partner with us to fund research to find a cure for T1D.

Miles and the siblings of the 1.25 million Americans with T1D thank you.