Posted by Cherie on October 17, 1997 at 12:18:28:
In Reply to: Define Your Health Care Now! posted by Robin Harrison on October 17, 1997 at 09:46:58:
Hello Robin,
Thanks for your posting. I took the link and was absolutely appaled at a comment made by Dr. Galub. I took the opportunity to "Talk" to them and the following is what I had to say:
"I am totally appaled at Dr. Golub's following statement:
Dr. Golub says our society is so preoccupied with finding cures for the diseases that we're not dealing with the easier task of tackling the symptoms. "The cure concept is 20th century thinking. Why not prevent the onset of symptoms?"
How could this doctor think for one minute that those of us with degenerative, dibilitating disease would not want a cure! What makes the doctor think we want to continue to deal with only the symptoms? Prevention research is certainly an area that should receive funding, but most of the research funding should absolutely go to finding cures.
Those who do not seek cures are those who PROFIT most from "treating the symptoms", like Lilly.
Diabetes is a prime example of one disease that needs a CURE NOW. Did you know that diabetes affects at least 135 Million people worldwide, 13 million of whom are insulin-dependent.
The International Diabetes Federation says that complications from diabetes kill 2.8 Million people around the world every year. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2025, 30 million people will have insulin-dependent diabetes and the disease will affect 300 million overa ll. In many countries
diabetes is the primary cause of blindness, kidney failure, amputation and heart disease. Diabetes is a leading
cause of disability and it reduces life expectancy by 30%! In the US alone diabetes costs $138 BILLION ANNUALLY,
that is one out of every seven dollars spent on health care. These statistics defy the conventional wisdom
that diabetes is a "manageable" disease. It is time to find ways -- not to manage, not to live with -- but to
CURE diabetes.
Did you know that 2 people (one here in the US) has been CURED of diabetes? And yet we still don't get the percentage (a measly 13% from the JDF) of research monies going to those researchers who have reached this point!
The percentage of research money going to research such as xenotransplantion of islet cells MUST be increased
so that we can cure the millions of people of this horrible disease.
It continues to horrify me that so many people still believe that "diabetes is not all that bad". I don't want
to have my life cut by 30% nor do I want to live a life of complications from this disease and burden my family
with it. Diabetics have had to live with this too long as it is.
Please, please, I urge you to re-focus, and also help to educate the diabetic population on these issues. I also invite you to visit the TIF Forum located at www.islet.org/forum to learn more about what I have said."
I am still seething over the comment. I'm not certain my total anger came across loud enough or whether any of this will do any good, but it sure felt good writing it!
Cherie