Russell Ride 2019-Post and Video Clip

Excerpt from the 2019 Russell Ride Journal followed by a Utube clip

Day 1-Following a grinding work day on Friday the 21^st, I opted to leave at 7:30 AM instead of 6:00. This decision proved stressful as weekend traffic was thick, post summer solstice and hitting the peak of tourist season in the Pacific Northwest. Luckily, I knew the route, slamming along Route 3 past the navy ships mothballed on shore until I exited onto “old Belfair Highway” and a bike lane. Then an easy mostly flat 10-mile ride into Belfair and a climb along the tree-lined highway towards Shelton. Past Herron Island and the northern Puget Sound outposts of Allyn and Grapeview, the route to the logging town of Shelton is preceded by a paved shoulder which is 24 inches wide at most. This seemingly adequate safety zone fails to consider the intrusion of mirrors which extend 18 inches from the passenger side of the commercial trucks, pickups, and recreational vehicles. Consequently, the cyclist must ignore the danger and ride a steady line.  

Aside from the late start I was soon pelted by rain all of the way into Mason County’s largest town. Nathan spotted me and did a quick pull over so we could take a photo to document the conditions, wet and miserable. Shelton is a 2-hour ride from Bremerton and entering the timber hub requires meandering around warehouses and various highway intersections. I am always relieved when I see the “Welcome to Shelton” sign as I leave town. There may be amenities here but they are opaque to the visitor, even someone going 15-miles-an-hour. I do not even recall a park with a restroom.

After a short highway jaunt on 108, I turn off at the McCleary casino which is my half-way rest stop. No flush toilets here, but a nice selection of porta pots and a picnic table with some historical markers. Nathan meets me here, right on schedule and we chat for 20 minutes. From here, I am now riding on smooth pavement along country roads, past farms and scaling a surprising number of hills. Once in the village of McCleary I turn left onto a beautiful bike path all the way into Elma, a sweet little town with some urban planning forethought including actual bike lanes. The land becomes flatter here, but the headwind increased to 20 MPH. I wryly observed my speed decrease on my odometer despite my best efforts. At one point I pulled into a bus shelter for a respite. Luckily, the rain had abated and it was sunny. I soldiered on to Montesano and the smiling face of my son, in the IGA parking lot. 

Nathan rode from Montesano, with a westerly crosswind and I waited for him 30 miles away in Raymond, a timber town. Weyerhaeuser owns most of the land in the region, but the town is on a river and is quite scenic with verdant hills all around. It even has sculptures along the road, a sure sign of affluence. I don’t remember much about it from last year, probably because I was so intent on getting into Astoria. South Bend is a charming town just west of Raymond with a bike path along the water and a great bike tool station with restrooms! I waited for Nathan here. He seems to be a strong rider and looks awesome in his made-in-the-US Borah gear! The goal is to camp tonight, so I need to find a site before dark and then circle back and find him. Destination-Cape Disappointment State Park on the Long Beach Peninsula.

Having plenty of time to kill, I decided to try and visit the man whom had helped me last year on the inaugural Russell Ride. I drove to his humble home and the place looked fairly deserted. I also saw a “for sale sign” off the road. I sure hope he didn’t die from his diabetes induced dialysis. Anyway, I left him the articles about the research the Russell Ride contributed to in 2018 and about this year’s ride. I also left him a brochure from Benaroya Research Institute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsy5eEhr5a0&feature=youtu.be

https://benaroyaresearchinstitute.everydayhero.com/us/russell-ride-2019

Curing Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the pancreas cease producing insulin, which is essential for the body to process hormones for regulating bodily fuel or sugar. Without insulin Type 1 Diabetics will die. At present there is no cure for diabetes, but the administration of insulin allows most diabetics to function normally. However, the disease is fraught with all kinds of comorbidities or side affects such as failing vision, circulatory problems, nerve damage, and increased risk of infections frequently leading to amputations. Diabetics often end up on kidney dialysis, which reduces life expectancy and increases the risk of infections even more. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 50% of patients with chronic kidney disease are diabetic.

Approaches to Curing Diabetes

Scientific studies for potential cures for Type 1-Diabetes include:

1.  Cellular manipulation by removing the attacking mutation to restore normal pancreatic function
2. Possible vaccines to prevent diabetes
3. Increased public health surveillance to screen for those at risk of diabetes before they lose their pancreatic function

 All approaches are focused on preventing damage and intervening before diabetes has ravaged the pancreas. Once a person ceases to create insulin the only way to change that is through a transplant, which must come from a deceased donor, as a pancreas is an essential organ.

Current Research to Detect Those at Higher Risk for Diabetes
The T-1 study through Benaroya Research Institute examines tissue samples from people with increased risk of diabetes, which is based on a screen for the presence of islet autoantiboides and the genetic risk for diabetes. Through the application of scientific methods Dr. Marika Bogdani, MD, PhD and her research team at BRI have identified cellular behaviors indicating which individual human samples likely represent early and advanced stages of damage in insulin making tissue inside the pancreas. Her team is researching this cellular behavior with the goal of blocking the agent which damages the pancreas in high-risk individuals. Dr. Bogdani's research shows that people with Type 1 Diabetes have a modified islet cell which produces more Hvaluronan (HA). Her research recently showed these cells are modified earlier before the onset of diabetes in individuals whom have these hostile islet autoantibodies. The very presence of these antibodies is an indication of cellar damage for insulin producing cells. In scientific terms, possessing two or more of these antibodies and the presence of the observed genotype is an indication of increased risk for developing Type 1 Diabetes. There are stages of diabetes before someone requires insulin and the first stage of the disease is the presence of these antibodies. The second stage is called dysglycemia and the third stage is insulin dependency.

Next Steps in Research and Clinical Application

Dr. Bogdani's group is now studying how the timing of this cellular modification impacts insulin cell function and survival, which will illuminate how to effectively minimize pancreatic damage. Current study of islet cells will also reveal which cells, such as endocrine or mesenchymal, are creating the HA growth and what causes the cells to make HA. This will lead to further refinements in potential clinical interventions.  

https://diabetesresearchconnection.org/cause/offensive-blocking-to-defeat-t1d-before-it-strikes/

Current Clinical Applications at the Patient Level

Scientifically there is enough information to be able assess individual risk for diabetes through blood samples. The increased presence of HA in the islet cells is an indication of Type 1 Diabetes at a very early stage and the Trialnet study screens for these antibodies. For more information on participating in the Trialnet study go to Benaroya Research Institute’s site:

https://www.benaroyaresearch.org/our-research/diabetes-clinical-research/find-study/trialnet-pathway

https://www.benaroyaresearch.org/blog/post/fighting-type-1-diabetes-one-blood-draw-time

Next Steps in A Public Health Intervention

 Primary healthcare should include diabetic screening tests, not just for adults, but for children as well, as Type 1-Diabetes primarily strikes children and young adults. Screenings could be done by individual clinicians during the annual wellness exams.

 A more comprehensive approach would be to screen all school-age children. Since many diabetics do not realize they have the disease until quite late in its gestation, this would provide greater population surveillance of this costly disease. The earlier a person is screened for diabetes the less damage the antibodies can cause to pancreatic function. It is possible to intervene while an individual still has pancreatic function. Earlier diagnosis in disease progression is best.

The author rode from Washington State to Napa, California in eight days, to raise awareness about the plight of diabetics, and raised $5,000 for the Benaroya Research Institute, to fund medical research to cure Type 1 Diabetes. She is the author of a guidebook to the U.S. healthcare system, which was published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2013.
 https://www.amazon.com/Unraveling-U-S-Health-Care-Personal/dp/1442222972. 

This column has been continuously published since November 2007, the year her brother, Russell died from complications of Type 1 Diabetes.
This is the healthpolicymaven signing off, encouraging you not to sign blanket releases, but do specify that for which you consent and that for which you do not before you undergo a medical procedure.