Crown Princess Victoria attended the Child Diabetes Foundation’s 30th anniversary celebrations in the Linköping. To mark its anniversary, the foundation held a conference in Linköping at which specially invited researchers spoke about child diabetes.
The Crown Princess opened the conference with a speech, in which she said:”Through the foundation, I have had the opportunity to follow the scientific advances in diabetes research. “It has been fascinating – but also frustrating. So many children are falling ill with diabetes. But we still don’t know why. Nor do we know why the incidence is so high right here in Sweden and Finland.”
After her speech, The Crown Princess presented prizes to two prominent child diabetes researchers in the Nordic region and Sweden. This year’s winners were Per-Ola Carlsson and Araz Rawshani.
During the conference, The Crown Princess listened to several talks about what is thought to cause type 1 diabetes, and what living with the disease is like.
The Crown Princess has been patron of the Child Diabetes Foundation since 1993.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s own immune defence to attack the cells in the pancreas, destroying them so that they can no longer produce insulin. It is not known why this happens or why cases of type 1 diabetes are increasing.
More than 900 children and probably as many adults contract the disease in Sweden each year, making this the most common life-threatening disease to affect children. Despite modern technology and the very best treatment, type 1 diabetes all too often leads to serious secondary diseases and a shortened life expectancy.
The Child Diabetes Foundation was established in 1989, and is now Sweden’s biggest funder of research into type 1 diabetes. In addition to raising funds for research, the foundation also carries out projects with the aim of helping and supporting affected children, young people and their families.
Source: NewMyRoyals
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