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CNN Live Sunday
Activists Lobby Congress for More Diabetes Research Funding
Aired June 24, 2001 - 17:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Two hundred children are converging on Washington this week hoping to raise awareness about what ails them. They are afflicted with Type 1 diabetes. During the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Children's Congress, delegates will head to Capitol Hill to try to persuade lawmakers to increase funding for research. This insidious disease is now the nation's seventh leading killer and there are two types: Type 1 strikes children and adolescents, it accounts for 5 to 10 percent of all cases; Type 2, which usually occurs after the age of 40, and accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all cases.
Eliza Kinsolving is well-acquainted with diabetes and is well- versed with research for a cure. She has been living with the disease since she was four years old, and she's currently writing a school paper on possible cures. Eliza's a delegate to this year's forum, and she joins us now from our Washington bureau.
Eliza, thank you for joining us.
ELIZA KINSOLVING, DIABETES PATIENT: Thank you.
FRAZIER: I'd like to hear a little bit about what you've learned in your research paper, but first, let's talk about your life. You learned at the age of four that you had this. How did you find out?
KINSOLVING: Well, I was actually in preschool, and my teacher was acquainted with the disease because she had a friend who had it, and she told my parents and lo and behold, I ended up having Type 1 diabetes.
FRAZIER: What clued her in that you might have it?
KINSOLVING: The basic symptoms: I was very pale, very unlike my energetic self, and I was about 3 1/2 and I was very thirsty all the time.
FRAZIER: And so, since then, you've been dealing with this. How?
KINSOLVING: Well, I have to take a finger pricks every day, which are very. very annoying actually. I prick my finger with a very small needle and take sample of blood, and I also have insulin pump which gives me medication throughout the day.
FRAZIER: And when you sample, what you are looking for, Eliza?
KINSOLVING: The right amount of blood sugar in my bloodstream.
FRAZIER: And because of the pump, do you have to do anything or does the pump balance the insulin and the sugars?
KINSOLVING: Well, it actually does balance my insulin level very well, but I have to insert a needle into my side or into my stomach every other day.
FRAZIER: And what does that do?
KINSOLVING: Well, it gives me my insulin throughout the 24-hour period.
FRAZIER: And so, what happens if you don't manage to keep track of things as closely as you're trying to with these pinpricks? What happens to you?
KINSOLVING: Eventually, I could get kidney failure, problems with my eyes and problems with my feet, and eventually, it could lead to very serious problems, even death.
FRAZIER: You must be terrified by that. Have you had any crisis yet? Have you had to go to the hospital with an imbalance that has put you into a coma or knocked you out?
KINSOLVING: No, I'm very fortunate in that I haven't had to do that, but there are many children who already have problems with their kidneys, their eyes and their feet.
FRAZIER: Is it correct that one crisis sort of weakens you and can lead to another one or that things get worse with time if you have a series of these?
KINSOLVING: It can, but it's really just important to stay at a good level with your insulin.
FRAZIER: Now, everything I have always read about this talks about better ways to manage the disease, but you have been looking into possibilities for cures, things that would actually end it for you, like what?
KINSOLVING: Well, actually, embryonic stem cell research is very important, and it's a really debatable issue, but it actually could lead to a cure for juvenile diabetes and for many other diseases that threaten a lot of people.
FRAZIER: Debatable because these cells come from embryos of children who died; in other words, fetus?
KINSOLVING: Yes. Well, actually not fetuses, embryos. That's the debatable part of the issue, actually.
FRAZIER: And what -- you're going to talk to your congressman and to others, and how are you going to deal with that part of the controversy?
KINSOLVING: Well, we're going to hope that they'll get the message that -- and put a face on juvenile diabetes, saying this is -- these are the children that actually deal with it, and it can lead to other problems that are just terrible.
FRAZIER: You know, you are such a happy and healthy-looking face, I guess you're going to have to talk to them a little bit about what your life has been like.
KINSOLVING: Yes, we are, and it's been tough at times, very tough.
FRAZIER: Well, good luck in that effort.
KINSOLVING: Thank you.
FRAZIER: I know you've got a very heavy lobbying schedule. We're grateful that you took time out of it to talk with us about things.
KINSOLVING: Thank you.
FRAZIER: Good luck
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