The Play T1D Breakthrough The program is a medical research charity raising money for urgent research into diabetes, one of the leading causes of death in the US
And this week, a gaming pioneer Will Wright helped raise money for the group, Wright said and Josh Larson, national director of Breakthrough T1D Play, said in interviews with GamesBeat.
Wright talked about his career, making games like Sim City, The Sims and more at companies like Maxis and Electronic Arts. The Sims franchise has generated over $5 billion in revenue to date.
He is now the co-founder of his own startup Gallium Studio by Lauren Elliott and they are working on a memory simulation game called Onward. Wright, whose grandmother had T1D, was also looking closely at how Proxi will be part of a stream to raise money for his non-profit.
Proxi is a new life simulation game about making magical connections with your memories and bringing them to life. The game is a lot like measuring your memories, Wright said in an interview with GamesBeat.
In an interview, Wright noted that there are two people in his family with T1D as well as other people among friends and in his workplace as well. That gave him good reasons to make the move with Breakthrough T1D Play.
The Breakthrough T1D program focuses on treatments for Type 1 diabetes, a disease that affects one in 400 children. more than 1.6 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes (T1D), and it is 9.4 million worldwide. It is on track to grow to 16 million by 2040. Although people can make lifestyle changes to help manage the disease, there is currently no cure.
The Breakthrough T1D Play group was founded in 2019. It was founded by game industry veterans who are parents of children with T1D. And they have raised over $5 million for research into new treatments and potential treatments.
The program is supported by a powerful network of game industry vets who have T1D themselves or have a close personal connection, from companies including Microsoft, PlayStation, EA, and Disney. With their support, Breakthrough T1D Play raises money and awareness through it Humble Bundles, Steam sale, charity streamsand in-game integration.
In the group's Dev Diaries Twitch series, members of the Breakthrough T1D Play stream community interview game devs about their roles while discussing their T1D connection (when appropriate) and playing a game they were working on.
Wright joined to talk and play The Sims 2 and showed off the new life sim called Proxi. One of Gallium Studios' programmers, LucasArts and Maxis alumni Justin Graham, works on Proxi and has T1D.
The Sims have a special connection to the T1D community, as The Sims 4 added medical equipment including CGMs and pumps to the game, Larson said.
“Our gaming program raises awareness and funding for type 1 diabetes research. I still laugh today that we had Will Wright stream on our Twitch channel. It was a really cool time for us,” Larson said. “We want to be where people play games, where they buy games, and where they watch games.”
One great aspect of Breakthrough T1D Play is that people close to games are always coming out of the woodwork to tell us about their T1D connections, which help us grow our network within the gaming industry and build our community amongst gamers and streamers. During yesterday's Twitch stream, Will surprised us by announcing that his grandfather had T1D.
In the past, living with diabetes was difficult because the disease affected the body's ability to produce insulin, which removes sugar, or glucose, from the bloodstream. If that sugar stays in the body, it can be very harmful and lead to serious illness or even death. That means that those with diabetes need to monitor their glucose levels and make sure they stay within an acceptable range.
Some treatment advances have occurred in recent years. An automated insulin delivery system (AID) can now connect an insulin pump, a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and use an algorithm that manages the insulin dose to keep you in range.
Type 1 Diabetes has nothing to do with diet and health and lifestyle. But people can get type 2 diabetes if they don't have proper control over their diet. And more the people will get fatthe more T2D becomes more likely.
I have tried glucose monitors twice to see the effect of carbs / sugar on my body, and it is very clear to see the immediate effect on my body. But others must use it to avoid far worse consequences.
Larson's 13-year-old child was diagnosed seven years ago and had to use a continuous glucose monitor the entire time. Now she also has an insulin pump that automatically feeds insulin as needed, thanks to an algorithm. That reduces waking up for caregivers in the middle of the night, Larson said.
Larson said his daughter has been on the DIY Loop system for 4.5 years and it has been a game changer for the family. The results have been very positive and Breakthrough T1D advocacy efforts continue to work to improve access to this technology. In fact, the NHS is in the The UK is recommended these systems and expanding access.
“It's more in the last several years that more solutions have become available,” Larson said.
However, the above AID systems do not represent a cure for T1D and do not reduce the burden for those living with it. Meanwhile, the first disease-modifying treatment for T1D, Tzield, was recently approved by the FDA and can prevent the onset of T1D for people at high risk for up to three years.
Larson said he is optimistic when it comes to finding effective treatments for the disease. Advances in cell therapies were encouraged Breakthough T1D to launch Project ACT (Accelerate Cell Therapies), an initiative to advance and accelerate cell-based islet cell therapies. In general, the research focuses on treatment, prevention and cure, Larson said.
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