Newswise — Few people talk openly about having diabetes, so most of us have little understanding of what it feels like to live with diabetes every single day and how it can impact one’s every waking moment. That’s about to change. In recognition of World Diabetes Day on November 14th, the Making Sense of Diabetes video contest is challenging people living with diabetes to visually reveal its impact on their lives through one of the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch or smell. The contest is sponsored by the Diabetes Hands Foundation, a pioneering advocacy organization in social media, and made possible through support provided by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
“Diabetes affects people’s lives in profound and unexpected ways,” said Manny Hernandez, founder of the Diabetes Hands Foundation, who has been living with diabetes since 2002. “We smell insulin, savor glucose tablets, feel the poke of devices, react to our doctor’s words and see the life ahead of us. Diabetes is complex and we hope this video contest will help people express and share their diabetes experiences with the diabetes community as a whole as well as with people close to them.”
To enter the Making Sense of Diabetes contest, anyone with diabetes over the age of 18 is asked to record and submit to http://www.MakingSenseOfDiabetes.org a video (up to three minutes run time) that demonstrates life with diabetes through one of the five senses. The online video submission should express creativity and originality, be truthful, and convey emotion in a compelling, evocative and personal way.
The contest begins on September 28 and lasts through November 1. Each week will focus on one of the five senses. Three weekly finalists will be chosen based on number of unique views, average rating received, quantity and quality of comments received, creativity and originality and the compelling nature of the video in connection to the sense it is about.
Restrictions and limitations apply. Go to http://www.MakingSenseOfDiabetes.org for the official rules and regulations, prize information, online voting of weekly winners and contest submission guidelines.
About DiabetesApproximately 23.61 million Americans and 246 million people worldwide2 have diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type, accounting for more than 90% of all diabetes cases in the developed world.3 Each year, more than 200,000 people in North America2 and more than 3.8 million people worldwide die from diabetes and its complications2 – a number which is expected to increase by more than 50 percent over the next decade.3 Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the body either does not properly produce or use the hormone, insulin.2
About Boehringer Ingelheim and DiabetesIn June 2009, Boehringer Ingelheim announced its pipeline of oral antidiabetic compounds, establishing itself in the type 2 diabetes therapeutic area. The Company is investigating compounds in Phase II and Phase III clinical development worldwide.
About The Diabetes Hands FoundationThe Diabetes Hands Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to connecting people touched by diabetes (those with diabetes as well as their loved ones) and raising diabetes awareness.
The roots of DHF go back to 2006, when the idea of creating a social network for a higher purpose was born, later turning into TuDiabetes.com®. EsTuDiabetes.com (a sister community in Spanish) followed, along with the Foundation’s first diabetes awareness program, Word In Your Hand™, which was born within the community.
TuDiabetes.com® started in March 2007 and EsTuDiabetes.com was launched in August 2007. With more than 16,000 combined members, both social networks have become top destinations for people searching for support and information about diabetes.
In March 2009, ChangeDiabetesNow.org was started to showcase educational materials created by diabetes community members while serving as an outlet for creative expression and raising diabetes awareness. All of the awareness programs of the Diabetes Hands Foundation can be found on this web site.
For more information, please visit http://www.diabeteshandsfoundation.org.About Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., based in Ridgefield, CT, is the largest U.S. subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation (Ridgefield, CT) and a member of the Boehringer Ingelheim group of companies.
The Boehringer Ingelheim group is one of the world’s 20 leading pharmaceutical companies. Headquartered in Ingelheim, Germany, it operates globally with 138 affiliates in 47 countries and approximately 41,300 employees. Since it was founded in 1885, the family-owned company has been committed to researching, developing, manufacturing and marketing novel products of high therapeutic value for human and veterinary medicine.
In 2008, Boehringer Ingelheim posted net sales of US $17 billion (11.6 billion euro) while spending approximately one-fifth of net sales in its largest business segment, Prescription Medicines, on research and development.
For more information, please visit http://us.boehringer-ingelheim.com
1 Centers for Disease Control. 2007 National Diabetes Fact Sheet.2 International Diabetes Federation. Diabetes Atlas. 3rd edn. Brussels: International Diabetes Federation, 2006.3 World Health Organization. Fact Sheet No. 312: What is Diabetes? Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/. Accessed on: February 4, 2009.