Toronto, ON — November 10, 2021 – JDRF Canada, the leading organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, is marking November and National Diabetes Awareness Month (NDAM) with a new Monster Tamer Campaign. T1D is an autoimmune disease that many have said can feel like living with a monster – a monster that requires you to make up to 300 life or death decisions every day about eating, activity, rest and more just to maintain blood sugar levels.
For over 100 years, we’ve been taming the T1D monster with tools like insulin, glucose monitors, and fast acting carbohydrates like juice boxes. But as we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin here in Toronto, we recognize that now is the time to move beyond insulin and accelerate research towards cures and finally defeat the T1D monster, once and for all.
“For most children, a juice box is something that they have in their lunch for school, but for those living with T1D it is so much more,” says JDRF President and CEO Dave Prowten. “A juice box can be an emergency tool that helps regulate blood sugar and can halt the symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) that can make those living with T1D sick, and even lead to more serious repercussions. That is why with our new campaign we have made the connection to juice boxes being a “monster tamer”, and our goal this NDAM is to raise awareness of how challenging living with T1D really is.”
Throughout November, JDRF is encouraging Canadians impacted by T1D to share their stories by describing their personal T1D monsters on social media using the hashtag #MyT1DMonster or by submitting them online at breakthrought1d.ca/t1dmonster.
Additionally, to mark World Diabetes Day on November 14, important landmarks and public buildings will be lit in blue across the country, including Toronto’s CN Tower, the Calgary Tower and British Columbia’s Canada Place, along with numerous City Halls. World Diabetes Day is recognized globally to raise awareness for the disease and falls on the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1921.For more information about JDRF’s Monster Tamer campaign visit breakthrought1d.ca/T1Dmonster.
About JDRF
JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Our goal is to raise funds to support the most advanced international T1D research and progressively remove the impact of this disease from people’s lives – until we achieve a world without it. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners and is the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence, and a working plan to better treat, prevent, and eventually cure T1D. For more information, please visit jdrf.ca.
Media contact:
Vanessa Parent
National Bilingual Marketing and Communications Specialist
JDRF Canada
514-262-6346
vparent@jdrf.ca
