Speaker 1: It is Colorado Gives Day, where we ask you to
Speaker 1: dig out your piggy bank and donate to your favorite charities.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite charities is well she is not
Speaker 1: my favorite charity, but she is working with the Children's
Speaker 1: Diabetes Foundation. Dana Davis, welcome back to the show. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for having me. We're so proud to
Speaker 1: be one of your favorite charities. Well you guys work with.
Speaker 1: First of all, I want to ask you this because
Speaker 1: I saw this not too long ago and I meant
Speaker 1: to look it up and I've forgotten to right now,
Speaker 1: there was a big breakthrough, it seems in type two diabetes.
Speaker 1: Earlier this year they did some gene editing type two,
Speaker 1: so I too. Yes, Oh so I thought it was
Speaker 1: type one.
Speaker 2: Well you said type two, but that type one with
Speaker 2: type one. So there are some amazing things that are happening,
Speaker 2: and there are some breakthroughs that are happening, and we're
Speaker 2: hoping and thinking and I know so many people think
Speaker 2: that's just so far down the line. But in like,
Speaker 2: we think in twenty years that would be a cure,
Speaker 2: and I know people feel like that's so far away.
Speaker 1: What we're able to do is figure.
Speaker 2: Out right now we can do where we put islet
Speaker 2: cells in the body, but we need to still give
Speaker 2: people anti rejection drugs. So to be honest, I would
Speaker 2: rather be type one right than beyond anti rejection correct.
Speaker 1: Correct. So we're so close. We're so close. I didn't
Speaker 1: think I could ever say that before.
Speaker 2: I actually just had a meeting with our researchers last week,
Speaker 2: and for the researchers were very honest and we're very
Speaker 2: sort of organic and specific about what we'll share.
Speaker 1: For the first time, they told.
Speaker 2: Me they feel like we're close.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's got it. I mean, wouldn't it be great
Speaker 1: to have your organization go out of business because you
Speaker 1: weren't needed anymore? It would be that would be my
Speaker 1: ultimate goal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And for right now, our goal really is is
Speaker 2: to make sure that type ones who do have it
Speaker 2: are getting the best care possible.
Speaker 1: Let's start with what's the difference between type one and
Speaker 1: type two? Because a lot of people are like, well,
Speaker 1: just lose them weight, that this is not a lifestyle disease.
Speaker 1: Type one diabetes totally different than type two diabetes. What
Speaker 1: is the difference?
Speaker 2: So type one is an autoimmune disease and you can
Speaker 2: have markers. We can actually test and see if people
Speaker 2: have markers to predispose them to type one, and we
Speaker 2: actually can give infusions for two weeks that can delay
Speaker 2: the onset of type one. Oh wow, but type one
Speaker 2: is an autoimmune disease. You don't do anything, you don't
Speaker 2: You didn't cause it. Type two is more about lifestyle.
Speaker 2: There are some possibilities. There are Type twos that are thin,
Speaker 2: and people are like, well, they're thin and they're in shape,
Speaker 2: and that's because the pancreas was stressed and might make
Speaker 2: enough insulin. But type one literally your body makes no
Speaker 2: insulin and you were diagnosed as a child.
Speaker 1: Is that why? Because everybody asked, well, why is it
Speaker 1: the Children's Diabetes Foundation when in reality, you can be
Speaker 1: diagnosed with type one diabetes at any point. You're thank
Speaker 1: you for saying that one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: So when I was diagnosed, I was seven, and my
Speaker 2: parents called it the Children's Diabetes Foundation because at that
Speaker 2: time they called type one childhood diabetes and juvenile diabetes.
Speaker 1: Right right now that's changed.
Speaker 2: I mean I have board members that were twenty six
Speaker 2: and thirty one.
Speaker 1: They were diagnosed.
Speaker 2: You can get diagnosed when you're ninety with type one diabetes.
Speaker 2: You can be diagnosed at any age. And I'm really
Speaker 2: glad you brought that up because it's so important for
Speaker 2: people to know. We recently, you know, we have people
Speaker 2: that need to know the symptoms. Recently, there was a
Speaker 2: teenager who was misdiagnosed not through US, not through SeeU,
Speaker 2: but through somewhere else and unfortunately they passed away because
Speaker 2: they didn't get.
Speaker 1: The proper care.
Speaker 2: And all it is is a simple blood test and
Speaker 2: you'reine test, very simple test.
Speaker 1: What are the symptoms to look for, Let's go ahead
Speaker 1: talk about that.
Speaker 2: It's weight loss, it's fatigue, unexplained weight loss.
Speaker 1: To be clear, Like, if you're on a diet you're
Speaker 1: losing weight, that doesn't mean you have type one diabetes.
Speaker 1: But if you all of a sudden start to shed.
Speaker 2: Weight, shed weight, it's like twenty pounds in nothing flat,
Speaker 2: it's extreme thirst. Depending on your age, it's bed wedding.
Speaker 2: I was wedding my bed at seven. That was not normal, right,
Speaker 2: It's it's it's crankiness.
Speaker 1: Well then I might have Type two guys.
Speaker 2: I mean I say it continues through We're all a
Speaker 2: little cranky, right, Like, So it's that it's knowing the symptoms.
Speaker 2: We're working really hard on education too, and educating everyone.
Speaker 2: I think people just assume they know what type one
Speaker 2: diabetes is and says, oh, you know, you're too old
Speaker 2: to get it, or you're too healthy to get it,
Speaker 2: and that's it's almost like an invisible disease because so
Speaker 2: many people look so healthy you would never think they
Speaker 2: actually have it.
Speaker 1: Well, it seems like now there are like managing diabetes.
Speaker 1: There's so many tools on the market now that are
Speaker 1: just crazy. The constant glucose monitor that for kids, that's
Speaker 1: just got to be a game changer. Well, it's a
Speaker 1: god sense. So imagine that you have a one.
Speaker 2: Year old who can't quite tell you what's wrong with them,
Speaker 2: and you can look and see what their numbers are.
Speaker 1: So I'm wearing one right now and.
Speaker 2: It tells me twenty four hours a day on my
Speaker 2: phone what my blood sugars are, right, And it's something
Speaker 2: that in the future, they feel like all all people
Speaker 2: should be wearing at some point in time in their
Speaker 2: life because it's such an important thing.
Speaker 1: To see how food and.
Speaker 2: Activities affect you, not just as a type.
Speaker 1: One right, but as a human being. There's some really
Speaker 1: interesting stuff happening right now when it comes to personalization.
Speaker 1: To your point and one of I just read an
Speaker 1: article a couple of weeks ago about a study that's
Speaker 1: happening now where people are wearing these glucose monitors and
Speaker 1: eating what is we've all been told is a healthy diet,
Speaker 1: but some people are finding out certain vegetables are making
Speaker 1: their blood sugar go crazy. So we're maybe looking at
Speaker 1: a future, well, you will have a very specific eating
Speaker 1: plan of like these are your food these are your superfoods,
Speaker 1: and they might be different for everyone. It's so cool
Speaker 1: the stuff that's cooled.
Speaker 2: Is cool, and it's cool that it can all springboard
Speaker 2: off of each other. There's so many things that with
Speaker 2: chronic illnesses.
Speaker 1: That can help everybody.
Speaker 2: And I think that's the one thing about you know, diabetes,
Speaker 2: is there's some really cool technologies that have happened that
Speaker 2: can help everybody.
Speaker 1: No, I just got a question on the text line Mandy,
Speaker 1: ask her what it's called or what type of diabetes
Speaker 1: it is. When the person doesn't have a pancreas, so
Speaker 1: that will that's type one. Yeah, that's type and.
Speaker 2: That's sometimes when people have cancer and they're pancreas is removed.
Speaker 2: I have a girlfriend who has a father that lived
Speaker 2: for twelve years, I mean, and he was older. Without it,
Speaker 2: you become Type one in need insulin.
Speaker 1: But yeah, so let's talk about the Barbidavia Center first
Speaker 1: of all, because we are so blessed and lucky here
Speaker 1: in the Denver Metro to have the Barbi Davia Center
Speaker 1: started by your mom. It was because of your conditional
Speaker 1: Is type one diabetes hereditary? Is there a hereditary component?
Speaker 2: There is a hereditary component. I don't have it in
Speaker 2: my hittree at all. So it's also really possible just out.
Speaker 1: Of nowhere for somebody to have Type I know I'm special,
Speaker 1: so yeah, it can come out of it.
Speaker 2: Can it can be either you know, you know of
Speaker 2: it and it's in your genes and and and that's
Speaker 2: why it's important too, I think for people to make
Speaker 2: sure they get a blood test or to get tested
Speaker 2: if you do have it in your family. The Barbara
Speaker 2: Davis Center will test you for free, oh wow, to
Speaker 2: see if you have the markers and then be able
Speaker 2: to let you know if an onset of type one
Speaker 2: is coming.
Speaker 1: What what do you guys do at the data DAVA
Speaker 1: or they just renamed the center of the Barbaradie. They
Speaker 1: need to change, right, we need rebranding. What do you
Speaker 1: guys do over there overall because there's so many things.
Speaker 2: There's so many things, it's fantastic. So we do patient
Speaker 2: care on the first floor. Second floor there's an infusion
Speaker 2: center where we actually able to do there's a few
Speaker 2: drugs that you can now infuse and push off the
Speaker 2: onset of type one if you have all the markers.
Speaker 2: And then the top two floors are a wet lab
Speaker 2: and a dry lab, so we.
Speaker 1: Do sort of soup to nuts.
Speaker 2: We do everything from care to trying to prevent it
Speaker 2: to a cure.
Speaker 1: And that's pretty amazing that there are drugs that you
Speaker 1: can give someone to keep their pancreas going if they're
Speaker 1: headed in that direction.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but now it's just getting the testing ryan. Some
Speaker 2: of it again is going to be a sticky a
Speaker 2: sticky answer, but some of it's insurance. It's a very
Speaker 2: expensive drug right now. We're trying really hard to get
Speaker 2: it past. We're trying very hard to get as much
Speaker 2: data as we can on it so that we can
Speaker 2: get it into mainstream.
Speaker 1: Is that part of what you do as well, do
Speaker 1: you do you help researchers? Do you do you fund
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff? Absolutely, we have. We have two
Speaker 1: floors of researchers. Wow, so you actually have it. For
Speaker 1: some reason, I thought you did grants, But you guys
Speaker 1: actually are doing three actually have researchers.
Speaker 2: We have over two hundred and twenty people in the
Speaker 2: building at the Barbara Davis Center. I'd say a third
Speaker 2: of them are Type one themselves. So I have a
Speaker 2: lot of passion for it and a lot of the
Speaker 2: researches is going on. We also have the largest clinical
Speaker 2: base of patients, so any devices that are going to
Speaker 2: come out in the next five years have come through
Speaker 2: our center for testing.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, We've been able to be a.
Speaker 2: Part of it because we have the most children, the
Speaker 2: most adults. Ninety percent of the Type ones in Colorado
Speaker 2: and surrounding areas come to the center.
Speaker 1: Oh that's fantasticcause I got to tell you, every time
Speaker 1: we have this have you on the show, I get
Speaker 1: an email from someone that says, oh my gosh, I
Speaker 1: had no idea this was here. Just found out I
Speaker 1: had Type one diabetes. I'm going to go there because
Speaker 1: you know, for the education component, because it's scary. I
Speaker 1: mean scary, you really do when you get that diagnosis.
Speaker 1: I think when you're a child and I don't want to,
Speaker 1: you know, speak for your experience, it's a pain. But
Speaker 1: maybe because your parents are kind of handling things, it
Speaker 1: may not be as scary as it could be. But
Speaker 1: when you're an adult and you realize, oh, this is
Speaker 1: going to be the right my life, it can be
Speaker 1: really intimidating and frightening. So what do you guys do
Speaker 1: in the way of education and do you have how
Speaker 1: old do you serve?
Speaker 2: We serve literally from day one to we have one
Speaker 2: patient that's had it for seventy five years. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: she's amazing, and you know.
Speaker 1: To one hundred years old.
Speaker 2: Education is crucial and my parents wanted to start this
Speaker 2: because they wanted to care for the whole family, right,
Speaker 2: So part of it is making sure that the siblings
Speaker 2: are okay. If it's you yourself, that your partner or
Speaker 2: you know your kids are okay with it, it's we treat
Speaker 2: it as a whole family in the education and that means,
Speaker 2: you know, a lot of times Type ones are twice
Speaker 2: as likely to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts and.
Speaker 1: A function of the I mean, is there a physiological
Speaker 1: reason for that or is it just the stress and
Speaker 1: the and the sort of yeah, you know, mental where
Speaker 1: are you? Yeah, Like, yes, I think it's a little
Speaker 1: of both.
Speaker 2: And then actually Type ones are four times as likely
Speaker 2: to suffer from eating disorders because there's such a focus
Speaker 2: on what you're eating and what that looks like, and
Speaker 2: and that can be at any age. That's not just
Speaker 2: for kids and not just for teenagers. So mental health
Speaker 2: issues is a big push that we do as well,
Speaker 2: because it's such a crucial part of it, and taking
Speaker 2: care of the whole person, not just your disease, but
Speaker 2: making sure your mind, body.
Speaker 1: And soul are Okay, what are the repercussions of untreated
Speaker 1: type one diabetes? Obviously people can die. You die, Oh oh,
Speaker 1: just that's it, okay. I mean yeah, one.
Speaker 2: Hundred years ago, they starved you till you died. Oh my,
Speaker 2: that was the treatment before insulin was discovered. Like it's
Speaker 2: kind of crazy to think, so to think when people
Speaker 2: are like, oh, it's been so long since we've had
Speaker 2: a cure, It's like we've only had insulin for one
Speaker 2: hundred years and they've known about it since Egyptian times.
Speaker 2: There's proof that it was called the sugar urine disease,
Speaker 2: and they knew to you know, sort of if there
Speaker 2: was sugar, if ants went to where you were urinated,
Speaker 2: that you probably they had diabetes. They got crazy, right,
Speaker 2: Like it's been around forever.
Speaker 1: So if you don't want to go get tested, just
Speaker 1: peel on the ground near an ant pile and see
Speaker 1: and see what it's perfect.
Speaker 2: But don't great now people are going to do that
Speaker 2: and I'm going to get in trouble as our doctors.
Speaker 1: You're going to be like, what kind of you? But
Speaker 1: I don't find that fascinating because we don't think about
Speaker 1: the ancient Egyptians. I mean, they had a civilized culture
Speaker 1: for the time, but you don't think about the fact
Speaker 1: that they were figuring out the internal workings or at
Speaker 1: least knowing that something was wrong, right, and it's crazy.
Speaker 1: That's amazing, Yeah, I mean, that's just amazing. What are
Speaker 1: some of the things that people who are coming to
Speaker 1: the center for the first time. What can they expect.
Speaker 2: They can expect a really warm and welcoming place. They
Speaker 2: can expect to find people who understand them.
Speaker 1: They can expect to.
Speaker 2: Be treated as a whole person, their whole family to
Speaker 2: be treated. We make sure a lot of times, like
Speaker 2: kids will come over from Children's hospital and little red wagons,
Speaker 2: you know, they'll come across after they've been diagnosed. They're welcomed,
Speaker 2: they get to meet with a therapist, they get to
Speaker 2: meet with a nurse practitioner, they get to meet with
Speaker 2: a doctor.
Speaker 1: We do the.
Speaker 2: Initial sort of setup, and then a few weeks later
Speaker 2: we have them come back. That's a lot of information
Speaker 2: to get in the beginning. That's a lot of We
Speaker 2: try to connect them with a network. We try to
Speaker 2: get them with social networks, and we have support groups
Speaker 2: and different things to really help to help them get
Speaker 2: through it.
Speaker 1: So what kind of changes have we seen in terms
Speaker 1: of life expectancy and the life expectancy since you were diagnosed?
Speaker 2: So when I was diagnosed, they were basically I was told,
Speaker 2: you know, to not have children.
Speaker 1: I didn't have children for other reasons.
Speaker 2: But that I couldn't have children and that I could
Speaker 2: expect to live like thirty forty years.
Speaker 1: WHOA, And now.
Speaker 2: We have people that are living with it for seventy
Speaker 2: five eighty. It'll be my fiftieth anniversary diversary next year,
Speaker 2: So we're doing a celebration and a metal celebration because
Speaker 2: we have over four hundred patients.
Speaker 1: That I have had it more than fifty years.
Speaker 2: So if the life expectancy has just doubled, it's become
Speaker 2: and the quality of life right right, I.
Speaker 1: Mean, let's be really, you can extend someone's life, but
Speaker 1: their quality of life sucks. What you're really doing, you know,
Speaker 1: that's it and now it can be.
Speaker 2: That's one of the bigger pushes too, is with cgms
Speaker 2: and pumps in different ways that you can take care
Speaker 2: of your body.
Speaker 1: You can.
Speaker 2: I mean you see there's Olympic athletes, there's race car drivers.
Speaker 2: You can do absolutely everything. And now even you're allowed
Speaker 2: to you know, before you weren't allowed to fly planes.
Speaker 2: There are you know, you're allowed to do that now
Speaker 2: like it's amazing. There's nothing that you can't do anymore.
Speaker 1: So what are they working on? What are your researchers
Speaker 1: working on right now that they feel hopeful that the
Speaker 1: end may be near. That would be stem cells.
Speaker 2: I mean that would be the implanting of stem cells
Speaker 2: and seeing you know what do you maybe put it in?
Speaker 2: What it can or cell shell is right, because it's
Speaker 2: you know, survives the immune system and it's you know, impervious,
Speaker 2: so you can it can come well, come and go,
Speaker 2: sorry about that, but working on how to create that
Speaker 2: as a protective implant to put it in the body.
Speaker 1: So the delivery system is the challenge. It's the delivery.
Speaker 2: System, yeah, because now they can know they can sit
Speaker 2: and watch and see a cell make it into They
Speaker 2: can take a beta cell, make it in or an
Speaker 2: islet cell, make it into an insulin producing cell. They
Speaker 2: can watch it turn green when that happens, they put
Speaker 2: an algae on it. They know exactly when it becomes
Speaker 2: an insulin producing cell. They can actually really manipulate the cells.
Speaker 2: It's just a matter of churning off the autoimmune system
Speaker 2: or you know, fooling it.
Speaker 1: Right, right, And then that's the issue. I mean, I
Speaker 1: read a lot about stem cells. I remember Regenerative Therapy
Speaker 1: client that is on the show quite often, and I'm
Speaker 1: fascinated by the potential for that. Sure, but it's like
Speaker 1: you think about stem cells can be anything. How do
Speaker 1: you make sure that they are going to be what
Speaker 1: you want them to be? And to your point, an
Speaker 1: insulin producing stem cell or you know, to basically juice
Speaker 1: the pancreas. That's to make it work the way it's
Speaker 1: supposed to. It's all. It's just, isn't it a great
Speaker 1: time to be alive?
Speaker 2: And thank goodness there are people that are so brilliant
Speaker 2: that understand that. Yeah, you know when I talk to
Speaker 2: our researchers and they talk about things and they're so
Speaker 2: excited and they get it and it's just not how
Speaker 2: my brain works. But so happy that there are people
Speaker 2: that think that way.
Speaker 1: Well, this is why we have Dana on the show
Speaker 1: today because this is Colorado Gives Day, and as we
Speaker 1: just talked a little while ago to step Denver, it's
Speaker 1: the perfect day to make a donation that could feasibly
Speaker 1: I mean we're actually talking about for real, you could
Speaker 1: make a donation that can help end type one diabetes,
Speaker 1: and then I wouldn't get to see data every year,
Speaker 1: but we'd find something to talk about. We'd find some
Speaker 1: reason to have you on for another reason. I've got
Speaker 1: a few text messages. I want to share this and said,
Speaker 1: please tell her that I used to work for her
Speaker 1: dad at Davis Oil when he started the foundation. I'm
Speaker 1: so proud of how far they've come I think so
Speaker 1: it's so incredible. People have been watching you this when
Speaker 1: my son participated in the Daisy program until he was
Speaker 1: eighteen or nineteen. What's the Daisy program?
Speaker 2: So the Daisy program is one of the programs where
Speaker 2: he must have a sibling that has Type one. Oh,
Speaker 2: also Celiac and also Chester Celiac.
Speaker 1: And is there a connection there? There is no way.
Speaker 2: There's a big connection with I think it's like half
Speaker 2: the Type ones have.
Speaker 1: Celiac as well. I have four autoimmune diseases. We'll see
Speaker 1: my family. We don't get cancer, we get autoimmune disease.
Speaker 1: We have a healthy stream of Celiac's on one side,
Speaker 1: and then we've got you know, like soriatic arthritis. I mean,
Speaker 1: we got a whole gamut of of autoimmune diseases, just
Speaker 1: a carnucopia of waiting for mine to kick in. Like
Speaker 1: every time something hurts, I'm like, well here it goes,
Speaker 1: you know here what I'm ready down to path just
Speaker 1: it's my time. But that's interesting to me. So they do.
Speaker 2: So that program then follows people for a certain amount
Speaker 2: of time to see there's two different programs.
Speaker 1: One's Teddy, one's Daisy, and I honestly don't remember which
Speaker 1: is the difference. I'm sorry I should know that.
Speaker 2: But one follows type ones that are already diagnosed if
Speaker 2: they get a second autoimmune, and.
Speaker 1: One is following.
Speaker 2: Siblings or maybe children of people that have type.
Speaker 1: One and following it through. I think that is an
Speaker 1: amazing part of this program, because when you have a
Speaker 1: kid that has a chronic illness or a disease or
Speaker 1: a condition, the other kids kind of get left behind
Speaker 1: a little bit out of necessity. It's not bad parenting,
Speaker 1: it is out of necessity. You have to direct more
Speaker 1: energy to that child who needs that. But what a
Speaker 1: wonderful thing for you guys to say, we're going to
Speaker 1: bring you all in and we're going to make you
Speaker 1: all feel special and.
Speaker 2: Loved well, and unfortunately we have a lot of siblings
Speaker 2: that are both Type one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we've been finding that more and more recently. Are
Speaker 1: we seeing a higher percentage? Are the percentages going up
Speaker 1: to the general population or are we just getting better
Speaker 1: at catching it. I think it's little bit of both.
Speaker 1: I think the percentages aren't a huge jump.
Speaker 2: I mean, during COVID everybody's like, oh my god, there's
Speaker 2: you know, there's been a jump, and there wasn't. It
Speaker 2: was unfortunately that people were getting to the point they
Speaker 2: were in DKA and needed to be in the hospital. Right,
Speaker 2: So it's being able to catch it early enough.
Speaker 1: So I think it's it's a little bit of both,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: It's I don't think it's a huge jump per se, right,
Speaker 2: you know, it just depends on the population exactly.
Speaker 1: Dana Davis with the Children's Diabetes Foundation, I have put
Speaker 1: a link on the blog today where you can go
Speaker 1: directly to their Colorado Gives page and make a donation
Speaker 1: and maybe be a part of curing type one diabetes.
Speaker 1: Those are big words. They are big words, and we'll
Speaker 1: hopefully we'll get to clink to the curing of diabetes
Speaker 1: very very fantastic and maybe some other autoimmune disease at
Speaker 1: the same time. Absolutely, because you got to knock them
Speaker 1: out before I get mine. So there you go.