What's the Deal with the Diabetes Wrist Band

A Brief History of the Diabetes Wrist Band

Even though diabetes affects an estimated 20.8 million people in the US and that diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death, and the fifth leading cause of death from disease; it still doesn’t get the attention it deserves. This is why many diabetes oriented organizations have decided to adopt a variety of tactics to raise awareness for diabetes research, and one of these methods is by promoting the diabetes wrist band. But why did they choose to go for a wrist band to symbolize the struggle against diabetes?

Well first of all, let me give you a little history lesson about fund raising wrist bands and how they came into existence. The first wrist band to gain international attention was the yellow livestrong band that was promoted by the Lance Armstrong Foundation. As its name implies, the Lance Armstrong foundation was founded by the world renowned cyclist and multiple Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996 and his doctors told him that he only had a 50% chance of recovery because the cancer had already spread to his lungs and brain. But in reality, the odds of Lance surviving were much worse, but his doctors didn’t want to keep his spirits down. After several sessions of chemotherapy and surgery, Lance finally recovered. In 1997, he started to cycle again and founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation, an organization geared towards raising awareness for cancer and its treatments.

In 2004’s Tour de France, Lance, as well as many other participants, adorned a yellow silicone bracelet during the competition. The band was part of the "Wear Yellow Live Strong" educational program which had a goal to raise money for cancer research and encourage people to live life to the fullest. The campaign was a huge success and many organizations followed in its footsteps.

One of these organizations is the American Diabetes Association. They decided to launch their own diabetes wrist band and they chose red for its color. The red diabetes wrist band can be spotted during many of the ADA’s events, such as the Step out to fight Diabetes event and the ADA’s Tour de Cure, which was directly influenced by Lance Armstrong’s story. You can buy Diabetes wrist bands on the ADA’s website for 10$ for a pack of ten wrist bands. If you are interested in buying a couple of wrist bands in support of the fight against Diabetes, just visit: store.diabetes.org.

Of course, wearing a diabetic wrist band is not the only way you can contribute to the cause; you can also send donations to the ADA buy visiting their website at www.diabetes.org or by phone by calling1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383) with your credit card and contact information in hand. A small gesture can make a great difference in the fight against Diabetes, so open your heart and make a donation; you never know if you or someone in your family might benefit from it in the future…