By Coralie Rogez

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is scheduled to host “Mountain View’s Walk for a Cure” 8 a.m. to noon, Oct. 27, at Shoreline Park. The event will be held rain or shine.

“It’s great to be working together with the JDRF on such an important goal - curing a disease which kills one American every three minutes and costs our nation over $105 billion a year in health care expenses,” said Lisa Harper, chairwoman of the San Francisco Walk to Cure Diabetes.

The foundation, the world’s leading non-profit, nongovernmental funder of diabetes research, was founded in 1970 by parents whose children were affected by the disease.

Juvenile diabetes - also known as type 1 diabetes - strikes children suddenly; makes them insulin-dependent for life; can cause heart disease, kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputations, heart attack and stroke; leads to difficult pregnancies; and may shorten life span by an average of 15 years.

According to the foundation’s Web site, “Although the causes are not entirely known, scientists believe the body’s own immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.”

To stay alive, those with type 1 diabetes must take multiple insulin injections daily and test their blood sugar by pricking their finger for blood, a minimum of six times a day.

Actress Mary Tyler Moore, the foundation’s international chairwoman, wrote, “I’ve had juvenile diabetes for over 30 years. It changes everything about a person’s life. It’s the knowledge that even if you do all you can do to be as normal as possible, you’re not, you’re different, and you face the uncertainty of a life visited upon by early death, blindness, kidney failure, amputation, heart attack or stroke.”

According to the foundation, more than 1 million Americans have type 1 diabetes. However, researchers are closing in on finding a cure for the disease, which could also help scientists find a cure for other autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Joan Sherlock, a Los Altos Hills resident whose daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 9, has recently joined the Silicon Valley branch of the foundation. “There are few organizations that pull money together, who are entirely focused on finding a cure.”

The JDRF has provided more than $600 million to diabetes research worldwide. In a typical year, 87 percent of JDRF’s expenditures directly support research and education about research.

Tavia Noreim, Sherlock’s daughter, said, “The most difficult thing for me now is always counting how much sugar I eat, always having boundaries and getting the shots.”

For more information, logon to www.jdrf.org or call (888) 533-WALK.