What if you had been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) as a child? According to JDRF, as many as 26 million Americans have T1D and the prevalence of T1D in people under age 20 between 2001 and 2009 grew 23 percent.
What if you had to manage this disease for years with continual blood testing and endless insulin shots?
What if you decided to work your way into becoming an athlete while battling this disease? Furthermore, what if you put your struggles on your back and became an athlete competing at the highest national and international levels?
This is what athletes on Team Type 1 and Team Novo Nordisk do. As national diabetes awareness month comes to a close, I’d like to draw your attention to this phenomenal organization and group of athletes.
Founded in 2005 by Phil Southerland and Joe Eldridge Team Type 1 (TT1) is a non-profit organization based in Atlanta, Ga., that strives to instill hope and empowerment in those battling T1D.
TT1 was the first organization to create a professional cycling team to include athletes with type 1 diabetes. This team evolved into a world-class cycling program and eventually expanded to become Team Novo Nordisk in 2013. With a program consisting of over 100 elite cyclists, runners and triathletes with diabetes, Team Novo Nordisk has brought an unprecedented global awareness to T1D.
While other world class cyclists need to worry about preparing for a race and eating for energy, Team Type 1 and Team Novo Nordisk riders must keep their diabetes management at the forefront before, during and after the event. All of the riders on both teams have T1D, including members Kevin De Mesmaeker and Charles Planet, who stepped on the podium at the Amgen Tour of California this summer. Kevin had a breakaway podium finish on Stage 4 and Charles won the Most Courageous Cyclist Jersey on Stage 1. No crutches, no excuses, no complaining about the suffering. It is all working and celebrating together: affirming Phil’s original vision. As I was fortunate to witness first hand, they are making the impossible possible and are an inspiration to not only all T1Ds, but to all people who refuse to allow their chronic condition to slow them down.
As Phil has said many times, “I recognized how important exercise was for my diabetes management,” Phil says. “Exercise and diabetes simply go hand-in-hand. Exercise is the billion dollar drug that never gets prescribed.”
The TT1 and Novo Nordisk athletes are heroes, they are inspirational, and I am proud to be associated with them.
Like both teams, we invest in enabling diabetics to thrive under the conditions of their illness as members of patients’ extended care teams. A recent study conducted by Curant Health pharmacists (link here) showed the significant and real-life effect of improving medication adherence for patients with diabetes in Georgia. Increased adherence makes it possible for more patients to live as Team Type 1 and Team Novo Nordisk athletes do: by overcoming barriers and living beyond the limitations of a chronic condition.