Supporting SVI Discovery Day for Childhood Diabetes
Acting as a platform to raise awareness for juvenile diabetes, the re-match of the 2010 Grand Final between football clubs, Collingwood and St. Kilda on Saturday 4th June promises to be a thriller.
In recent years, St. Vincent’s Institute (SVI) in conjunction with the Australian Football League, Collingwood and St. Kilda Football Clubs have joined forces to promote Discovery Day – an initiative formed to raise awareness and funds for the ongoing research and possible cure for juvenile diabetes. In what is now an annual tradition, children suffering from juvenile diabetes will form a guard of honour as the players from both teams run out on the ground.
Affecting over 140,000 children and adults in Australia, Type 1 diabetes (also known as juvenile or insulin-dependent diabetes), is a lifelong autoimmune disease that destroys the body’s ability to produce insulin – a hormone necessary for the body to convert food into energy. While the condition is generally diagnosed in childhood, symptoms can arise at any age and are not preventable. Type 1 diabetes is the fastest growing chronic disease amongst Australian children to which there is currently no known cause or cure.
Melbourne’s St. Vincent’s Institute is an independent medical research facility which conducts research into the cause, prevention and treatment of diseases that are common and have a serious effect on health. Along with diabetes, St. Vincent’s Institute also conducts research into illnesses such as Obesity and Heart disease, Arthritis and Osteoporosis, Cancer, Alzheimer’s and Infectious diseases. Through their research, this world class institute strives to help alleviate the enormous financial, emotional and physical impact illness can have on individuals, their families and the community.
If you can’t make it to the Melbourne Cricket Ground to witness the repeat of the 2010 Grand Final under lights, please take the time to inform yourself about juvenile diabetes and the effects it has on those who suffer from the illness as well as their families. For further information about this illness or other conditions researched by St. Vincent’s Institute, please visit www.svi.edu.au.
Type 1 diabetes is the fastest growing chronic disease amongst Australian children to which there is currently no known cause or cure.