{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://noem.house.gov/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=05C73262-BF30-4E8C-B623-B655BFF09035", "Weekly Column: Tackling Diabetes", "2014-10-17", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "SD", "Kristi Noem", "N000184", "noem.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "This last week, I met with a nine-year-old girl from Black Hawk.\u00a0 Her name was Lauren.\u00a0 She is an incredible young lady and I had a great time getting to meet her.\u00a0 But Lauren and I were there to visit about a very serious issue. Lauren, like more than 200,000 young people in America, has diabetes.\r\nEach year, tens of thousands of Americans \u2013 including many children \u2013 learn they have diabetes.\u00a0 While nearly 10 percent of Americans have the disease, there are still a number of misperceptions surrounding diabetes and what it means for everyday life.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I wanted to take a moment this week to write about some things each of us should be aware of regarding diabetes.\r\nFirst, there are two kinds.\u00a0 Type 1 diabetes, which is what Lauren and my nephew Hunter have, occurs when a person\u2019s immune system destroys cells that release insulin.\u00a0 Without insulin, we can\u2019t absorb sugar, which is needed to produce energy.\u00a0 With Type 2 diabetes, people aren\u2019t able to use the insulin that is produced right away and over time, the pancreas may begin making less and less insulin.\u00a0 The majority of people with diabetes have Type 2.\r\nType 1 diabetes can\u2019t be prevented and children with a family history of Type 1 diabetes or certain genetic factors can be at increased risk.\u00a0 Type 2 diabetes can be delayed, if not prevented altogether, by maintaining a healthy weight, eating right, and exercising.\r\nThere are different ways to treat diabetes.\u00a0 Both Lauren and Hunter, for instance, wear an insulin pump.\u00a0 This essentially gives them short-acting insulin 24 hours a day so their sugar levels are kept in check.\u00a0 Other people may take shots, oral medication or adjust their eating habits to help control blood-sugar levels.\u00a0\r\nSome with Type 2 diabetes may be able to make lifestyle adjustments that allow them to reverse the diagnoses.\u00a0 But for those with Type 1 diabetes, there is currently no cure.\u00a0 Scientists are working very hard, however, to identify one for kids like Lauren and Hunter and advancements have been made.\r\nDuring our visit, I asked Lauren if there was anything else she wanted people to know about diabetes.\u00a0 She said, \u201cDiabetes is not contagious, so don\u2019t be scared to be around someone with it.\u201d\u00a0 To me, that comment was another reminder that we can all do more to debunk myths and increase awareness about diabetes.\u00a0 In South Dakota, Governor Daugaard has declared October as \u201cDiabetes Awareness Month\u201d after learning about Lauren\u2019s brave efforts to take on diabetes.\u00a0\r\nI can\u2019t begin to tell you how much it means to have folks focusing on diabetes \u2013 especially childhood diabetes \u2013 this month.\u00a0 I still remember when our family found out Hunter had diabetes.\u00a0 We all had so many questions and those first few months after he was diagnosed were a crash course for all of us.\u00a0 To be honest, it\u2019s something our family continues to learn about as he grows and as new technologies and treatments become available to him.\u00a0 But he\u2019s been such a great kid through it all and he\u2019s turning out to be an incredible young man.\r\nHunter has been an inspiration to our family and I\u2019m thankful we have young people like him and Lauren out there, encouraging other kids who have been diagnosed, moving researchers and lawmakers to tackle this disease, and inspiring each of us.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://noem.house.gov/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=05C73262-BF30-4E8C-B623-B655BFF09035"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1230178643018007, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}