Carolyn and Kevin Kirkland. PHOTO: NISUS CORP.
JDRF has selected Kevin Kirkland and his wife, Carolyn, as co-presidents of the East Tennessee JDRF Board in Knoxville, Tenn. Kevin Kirkland is president and CEO of Rockford, Tenn.-based Nisus Corp. Based in New York, N.Y., JDRF is considered to be the leading global organization funding research for type 1 diabetes (T1D, formerly known as juvenile diabetes).
According to a news release, the Kirklands have been actively involved with JDRF because their son Ethan lives with the disease.
ABOUT NISUS CORP.
Founded in 1990, Nisus Corp. manufactures sustainable pest control products, and also provides sustainable wood preservatives to the railroad, utility and lumber industries. Nisus distributes more than 30 products to eight different industries across the United States and in seven international markets.
ABOUT JDRF
Founded in 1970 as the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, JDRF has led the search for a cure for T1D. Approximately 110 adults and children are diagnosed with the disease every day; nearly 85 percent of people living with the disease are over age 18. Thanks to better therapies, which JDRF funding has been instrumental in developing and making available, people with T1D live longer and stay healthier while they await the cure.
ABOUT T1D
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that strikes both children and adults suddenly. It has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. There is nothing you can do to prevent it. And, at present, there is no cure.
In T1D, your pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone the body needs to get energy from food. This means a process your body does naturally and automatically becomes something that now requires your daily attention and manual intervention. If you have T1D, you must constantly monitor your blood-sugar level, inject or infuse insulin through a pump, and carefully balance these insulin doses with your eating and activity throughout the day and night.
However, insulin is not a cure for diabetes. Even with the most vigilant disease management, a significant portion of your day will be spent with either high or low blood-sugar levels. These fluctuations place people with T1D at risk for potentially life-threatening hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic episodes as well as devastating long-term complications such as kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, blindness and amputation.
About the Author
Heather Gooch is the editor-in-chief for PMP magazine. She can be reached at hgooch@northcoastmedia.net or 330-321-9754.
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