Advocates for Iowans with type-one diabetes are in Washington D-C this week, along with their counterparts from all 50 states, urging members of Congress to support continued research funding. Mary Horn, with J-D-R-F of Central Iowa, says they’re hoping to secure more dollars that will be dedicated to helping find a cure, as well as better ways to treat and prevent the auto-immune disease.
Since 1970, the non-profit has invested more than two-billion dollars into research, which Horn says has brought a host of innovations. Horn, who lives in West Des Moines, says her daughter was diagnosed with type-one diabetes when she was six years old. She’s now 20 and is benefitting from the many years of research.
About seven-percent of Iowa’s population has type-one diabetes, or about one-point-two million Americans. Horn says people with type-one diabetes face almost three times the level of medical expenses compared to people without diabetes. Known as J-D-R-F, the former Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is the leading global organization funding research for type-one diabetes, which strikes an equal number of children and adults.
