By Erika Beecham
Stem cell research has sparked controversy across the nation, but for Kenneth and Pamela Anderson of West Jordan, Salt Lake County, it is a personal issue.
Last June, their son Cody Anderson was diagnosed with Type I diabetes mellitus. Thirty thousand Americans are diagnosed with Type I diabetes each year, according to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.
The Andersons, along with the diabetes foundation, believe stem cell research may provide the cure to diabetes. In June the organization sent three-year-old Cody to Washington D.C. as the representative of Utah children with diabetes.
“Stem cell research is one avenue, a major avenue, the biggest avenue that”s out there right now by which we believe there”s a cure waiting,” said Nichell Taylor Bryant, manager of media relations for JRDF.
However, Bryant said not all patients of diabetes and their families support stem cell research because of their own issues.
The Andersons support stem cell research and said they hope it will soon provide a cure to ease the burdens of their son”s diabetes.
Cody, like other children with type I diabetes, must have his blood tested several times a day. Even something as simple as an afternoon snack requires monitoring Cody”s blood sugar level and sometimes taking an insulin shot, Pamela Anderson said.
“You have to be prepared at all times for anything, and that takes time out of your life,” Pamela Anderson said.
Diabetes occurs when the islet cells in the pancreas do not produce insulin. Without insulin the body cannot break down sugar, said Janet Sirstins, nurse educator at the Primary Children”s Hospital Diabetes Clinic.
Stem cells are the precursors of another cell and stem cell research has the possibility of curing diabetes by growing islet cells, said Francine Kaufman, head of the division of endocrinology at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
Stem cell transplants have been successful in the past, but there are not enough islet cells which can be recovered from the pancreas of cadavers to cure even a fraction of the people with diabetes, Kaufman said.
“That”s why we are pro stem cell research – there”s not enough islet cells that they can recover from cadavers to be able to supply all the diabetics,” Kenneth Anderson said.
Type I diabetes, also known as insulin-dependent diabetes, is frequently diagnosed during early childhood and 16 per 100,000 children in the U.S. are diagnosed annually, Sirstins said.
Pamela Anderson said diabetes affects every aspect of their life. Kenneth Anderson works days and Pamela Anderson works at night so that someone can always be with Cody.
Pamela Anderson hopes a cure will be found soon so her son will have a future free of diabetes.
“It does deteriorate the body, even though you”re doing everything you can,” Pamela Anderson said.
Pamela Anderson said the highlight of the JDRF Children”s Congress to D.C. was when the family met with Senator Orrin Hatch.
The delegates also met celebrities such as JDRF Chairman and actress Mary Tyler Moore, as well as actor Jonathan Lipnicki of Stuart Little, Bryant said.
