cindy@medhelp

For Immediate Release:

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) & Med Help International

Open Online Forum for Patients and Their Families

Melbourne, Florida/www.medhelp.org /August 5, 2003 --- Juvenile Diabetes
Research Foundation and Med Help International, Inc. are pleased to announce
the opening of the Juvenile (Type 1) Diabetes Forum for patients and their
families, on the Med Help International website. (http://www.medhelp.org - then
click on the word DIABETES which appears in the left column.

The Juvenile (Type 1) Diabetes Forum was created to provide a convenient way
for people who have personal concerns about juvenile (type 1) diabetes to
ask questions and receive answers from other individuals who are personally
affected by juvenile diabetes.

After a new diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, fear, anger, sadness, and
confusion about how to manage diabetes can leave families feeling alone and
overwhelmed. JDRF volunteers are now available in the Juvenile (Type 1)
Diabetes Forum to answer questions. In addition, if people just want to
communicate with someone who has "been there", the forum is now open!
Whether you or your loved one is newly diagnosed or you have ongoing
questions and needs, JDRF volunteers are in the forum, ready to lend their
support.

JDRF's mission is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through
the support of research. The JDRF was founded in 1970 by the parents of
children with juvenile (Type 1) diabetes, and their volunteers have each
made a promise to someone they love to do all they can to find a cure -
sooner rather than later. It is these personal promises which animate their
efforts and drive them, unrelentingly, toward their goal. The perseverance
of their volunteers, working in collaboration with their professional staff,
has resulted in JDRF becoming the world's leading charitable funder and
advocate of juvenile (type 1) diabetes research. JDRF volunteers come from
all corners of the globe and work through more than 120 Chapters and
Affiliates, worldwide.

Med Help International is dedicated to bringing people together with the
best medical organizations, experts and support in the world, via the
Internet. Since 1994, Med Help International has been consistently ranked
one of the best consumer health websites on the Internet and has received
nearly every Internet achievement award.

Through the new forum, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Med
Help International hope to provide a universally accessible electronic
environment in which people personally affected by juvenile (Type 1)
diabetes can interact and help one another deal with the daily challenges of
life with diabetes."

Forum topics/questions include: (but are not limited to)

Newly diagnosed diabetes

Adults with diabetes

Children with diabetes

****s with diabetes

Diabetes and Athletics/Sports

Diabetes and Celiac Disease

Diabetes and depression

Diabetes and pregnancy

Diabetic Complications

Hyperglycemia / Diabetic Keto-Acidosis

Hypoglycemia

Islet Cell Transplantation

Nutritional issues and diabetes

Pump Therapy and diabetes

School issues and diabetes