‘Lace Up’ Funds Diabetes Research 100 Years After Canadians Discovered Insulin – Capital Current

Diabetes Canada held its first-ever national 5K relay on September 25 as part of the organization’s annual Lace Up fundraiser to raise money for research into a cure for the disease.

Participants in the relay race — and other sporting activities promoted during the month-long Lace Up fundraiser in September — were encouraged to don their running shoes or roller skates to raise funds.

Participants were also asked to join Diabetes Canada at 12:00 p.m. in their time zone (12:30 p.m. in Newfoundland) on Facebook or Instagram to hear participants’ stories of living with the disease or getting support from a family member.

This year’s fundraiser came exactly 100 years after the discovery of insulin in 1922 by a University of Toronto research team led by Dr. Fredrick Banting. One of the most remarkable medical discoveries in Canadian history, the Nobel Prize-winning achievement gave diabetics a way to manage their disease and has saved the lives of millions of people around the world.

Diabetes Canada’s Lace Up fundraiser ran September 1-30. Canadians from BC to the Atlantic provinces worked together to raise money to advance diabetes research, diabetes education, support services and advocacy. Funds will also be used to help children with diabetes attend summer “D-Camps.”

Diabetes Canada promoted the event as a “lace up” to allow Canadians to choose how they complete the 5K relay. The fundraising team said participants are invited to walk, run, drive, roller-skate or choose another way to participate.

According to Diabetes Canada, nearly 11.7 million Canadians are living with diabetes or prediabetes. The autoimmune disease affects one in three people across Canada, and one in two young adults is at risk of developing type 2 diabetes in their lifetime.

Diabetes Canada describes diabetes as a disease in which your body cannot produce insulin or properly use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, which is located between the stomach and spine along with the gallbladder, liver and spleen.

Insulin’s role is to regulate the amount of glucose (sugar) in the body’s bloodstream. Blood sugar levels must be carefully regulated to ensure the body is functioning properly. Too much sugar in the bloodstream leading to high glucose levels can damage organs, blood vessels and nerves. The body also needs insulin to convert sugar into energy.

There are three main types of diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common diagnosis, accounting for about 90 percent of cases, and typically develops over time from factors such as body weight and diet. Type 1 diabetes typically develops in childhood as an autoimmune disease that damages the immune-producing cells in the pancreas.

Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy and is usually temporary. Prediabetes is another important diagnosis that indicates an increased risk of developing diabetes, typically type 2.

“When you’re talking about percentages, it’s hard to imagine,” said Megan Spurrell, Diabetes Canada fundraiser. “But to talk about the fact that one in three Canadians is affected is very powerful,” she said.

But even with the help of insulin, diabetes can shorten a person’s life expectancy by five to 15 years. Laura Syron, President of Diabetes Canada, recently said, “Diabetes is succeeding in outpacing us all, and with a new diagnosis every three minutes in Canada, it’s not slowing down.”

The Lace Up event was originally scheduled to take place in 2020, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced online fundraisers.

Over the past year, approximately 1,000 participants across Canada worked together to raise more than $450,000 for Diabetes Canada. In the summer of 2021, D-Camps provided 95 hours of programming to 218 families, the organization said.

Previously, relay runners had no way to directly track the distances they traveled with Diabetes Canada. But this year, a new Lace Up to End Diabetes app was launched.

“The app is great because it’s the only place about Lace Up where you can track how many miles you’ve put on,” Spurrell said.

Spurrell added that if participants raise $2,500 or more, individual or team participants in the Lace Up fundraiser will have the option to use their funds for specific causes. This would allow them to use the money raised for medical research, camps for children with diabetes, or other options.

Diabetes Canada and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation conduct diabetes research and clinical trials. Diabetes Canada has supported research since 1975 and has provided more than $140 million in grants, awards and partnerships to scientists across the country – funding supported by events like Lace Up.

Diabetes Canada research and administration specialist Kelly Lang said the organization holds an annual research funding competition to select the best projects to support each year.

Each application goes through a rigorous peer-review process, and funding decisions are based on expert recommendations from Diabetes Canada’s National Research Council, Lang said.

dr Erin Mulvihill, a researcher at the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Heart Institute, is one of the recent grant recipients and is currently working on a project entitled: “Exploring the Effects of Ketogenic Diets on Type 2 Diabetes.” The project is testing the short- and long-term effects of low-carbohydrate diets in improving the health of diabetics.

dr Mulvihill has received the End Diabetes: 100 Award (2021-2024), Diabetes Canada New Investigator Award and others.