Targeting Type 1 Diabetes (Sponsored Content)

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Since you're a subscriber to this Bloomberg podcast, we thought you'd be interested in a six-episode sponsored podcast called Targeting the Toughest Diseases. Produced by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Bloomberg Media Studios, it explores the innovative tools, methods and unique philosophy Vertex Pharmaceuticals is using to search for treatments for some of humanity's most challenging diseases. Here's a recent episode.

Madison Carter (0:35)

I'm so goal-oriented. I'm always just charging ahead, like we're gonna get it done by any means possible.

Jordan Gaspore (0:42)

Focused and fearless. That's the best way to describe Madison Carter. Those qualities have helped Madison break a lot of important stories as an award-winning investigative reporter in Atlanta, Georgia. She's investigated white nationalists, political corruption and the parole system. Those are stories that take a lot of guts to cover, and Madison has done it all without hesitation.

Madison Carter (1:02)

People will tell you, I go for everything. I say everything that needs to be said. I have no fear. I don't have a lot to lose.

Jordan Gaspore (1:10)

That fearlessness comes from a dark place.

Madison Carter (1:14)

It's because of my diabetes. I could die at any second.

Jordan Gaspore (1:23)

Hi, I'm Jordan Gaspore, a member of the University of Southern California's Center for Health Journalism. This is Targeting the Toughest Diseases, produced by Bloomberg Media Studios and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. In this series, we look at some of humanity's most challenging diseases, and how Vertex, a Boston-based biotech company, is using innovative tools, methods, and a unique philosophy to search for treatments and cures. Today, we're targeting type 1 diabetes, a chronic disease that affects more than 8 million people around the world, a number that's expected to increase rapidly. In the US alone, approximately 1.4 million people, including nearly 170,000 under the age of 20, have type 1 diabetes.

Madison Carter (2:12)

I don't think I ever had the opportunity to be a kid.

Jordan Gaspore (2:15)

Since she was three years old, Madison's life has included a highly controlled diet, constantly measuring her blood sugar levels and insulin shots.

Madison Carter (2:24)

And it's something that I have spent the past couple of years in therapy really working through because it's not fair. It's not just that I feel like it's not fair, it is not.

Jordan Gaspore (2:39)

When she was just a toddler, Madison started showing signs that something was off.

Madison Carter (2:44)

I was getting really, really skinny, which is weird because the people in my family are not very skinny.

Jordan Gaspore (2:49)

She was then feeling thirsty all the time and constantly tired.

Madison Carter (2:54)

I would be falling asleep in random places. My mom found me asleep next to my oatmeal one morning, found me asleep on the toilet one day. You know, I'm a toddler, I'm three years old, so that was really strange, especially when I'm supposed to be running around. And one night, my mom was putting me to bed, and she said that she could count every single one of my ribs. And in that moment, she picked me up, put me in the back of the car, gave me a sprite, which later on we would find out was a very bad idea, and took me to Children's Hospital.

Jordan Gaspore (3:26)

When they got there, the medical team found Madison's blood sugar level was dangerously elevated, nearly 200% higher than it should have been.

Madison Carter (3:35)

They told my mom I should be dead had she had put me to bed that night, I would have been dead, and that's how I was diagnosed. I think my parents had about a year of giving me injections until I told them to never touch me with the needle again.

Jordan Gaspore (3:51)

By the time she was five, Madison was doing all her injections herself.

Madison Carter (3:56)

It was harder for me to see my mom inflict pain upon me than it was for me to just do it myself. Like seeing her face that upset me, it wasn't even that it would hurt, because it hurts sometimes when I would do it myself. But I just didn't want her to have that responsibility of feeling like she was hurting me.

Jordan Gaspore (4:17)

Our pancreas produces insulin, a special hormone that the body needs to process glucose, a key source of energy. For people who have type 1 diabetes, those insulin producing cells in the pancreas are destroyed. That means the glucose stays in the blood, resulting in high blood sugar levels, also known as hyperglycemia. The symptoms include increased thirst, hunger, frequent urination, and weight loss. If left untreated, this can lead to excessively high glucose levels and eventually could even be fatal. People with type 1 diabetes rely on giving themselves insulin every single day to survive and have to be super vigilant. Not enough insulin can lead to high blood glucose levels, and over time, complications like kidney disease, vision loss, nerve damage, heart attacks, and strokes. Too much insulin can result in low blood sugar. If left unaddressed, blood glucose levels can fault dangerously low and can lead to severe hypoglycemia, resulting in seizures, loss of consciousness, or even death.