Joining a clinical trial: Bree’s ENDIA Story

Bree was worried her diabetes may be passed on to her future children, so she joined a research trial and discovered the many benefits of getting involved. 

I’ve always been pretty lucky with my diabetes; in my 18 years of living with it I really hadn’t experienced many complications or ongoing worries.

But that did change when I met my partner and we started to think about starting a family. Pregnancy isn’t always an easy process for people with type 1, so I did all the research and got all the help I could to make sure my pregnancies were as healthy as they could be.

The one thing I knew I couldn’t control was the risk of my children developing type 1 diabetes themselves.

Through the hospital clinic I was attending, I was put in contact with a local coordinator for the ENDIA trial. ENDIA is a world first research trial that aims to identify how lifestyle and our surrounding environment can contribute to type 1 diabetes development. After learning everything I could about it, I decided to enrol both myself and my unborn son. The research team were very accommodating and made the process as quick and simple as possible. There was never any pressure to do anything I didn’t want to do, they were happy to receive any help I could provide. I was also impressed by how quickly the study evolved, including new ideas to make sure it was maximising the outcomes it could generate.

Fast forward a few years, and I’m now a mum to three beautiful kids and all of them are enrolled in ENDIA. Joining a clinical trial wasn’t something I had thought about before getting pregnant, but it really has provided some great benefits. For me, the most important one was being able to find out whether my kids were at increased risk of type 1 and gaining the ability to intervene earlier should they start showing symptoms. I’ve also been able to connect with the other ENDIA families and we are now all sharing advice and supporting each other. I love that I’m participating in something for the greater good, that my contribution will improve someone’s life in the future. One day we may have a cure because of the research trials that are happening right now and I’m excited to be part of it.”

Bree’s story is one of the many first person accounts in Straight to the Point, a comprehensive guide for adults living with T1D. Download your free copy.

Find out more about the ENDIA trial.

You can also sign up to be a Game Changer and stay up-to-date on research and clinical trial news.