JDRF Walk

I'd call this a resounding success: thousands of walkers showed up for the annual JDRF walk to raise funds for juvenile diabetes. I have to admit, this being my first year I wasn't expecting such a crowd, but yet they came, and in droves. All wearing their specific team T-shirts, some corporate, some family honoring a specific member (presumably someone with type 1).

It was refreshing, seeing so many people walking for one cause, to fund research into a cure for type 1. Perhaps it's easy for me to forget as the endocrinologist, but I did see some thought-provoking posters that the organizers had put up:

"Insulin is NOT a cure..."

'Tis true. We, the practitioners, use insulin so frequently, signing praises of how well it works, and how when Banting and Best discovered this, they saved the lives of millions (since until insulin was discovered and given exogenously, type 1 was 100% fatal). But it's easy to forget that for the patient, we are merely treating their condition, not curing them. But for a disease like diabetes (type 1 or 2, for that matter), cure is a strong word that we never use. Maybe someday, one can only continue hoping for the countless this affects.

Until then, we'll keep plodding and walking on...

Now someone get me some oxygen!