serious business this weekend of raising funds for Bermuda's children with Type 1 Diabetes.

The `Not the Um Um' cast of brothers Bruce and Fred Barritt, Tim Taylor, Chris Broadhurst and Pete Smith will put on two shows this Friday and Saturday evening to raise funds for the cause.

Proceeds from the $30-a-head tickets -- which include a bowl of chili and a roll from Swizzle Inn -- will go towards a trip to Disney World next November for the 18 children in Bermuda who suffer from Type 1 Diabetes.

There, the children and their parents and siblings, will meet with a behavioural psychologist to help them better understand and deal with the disease, which has afflicted close to 100 people in Bermuda, including 18 children under the age of 18.

The youngest is just 15 months old, Debbie Jones, the Co-ordinator at the Diabetes Centre, recently revealed.

"The last child was diagnosed in May of this year,'' said Mrs. Jones. "The pattern has been about one child every year, but last year there was a cluster with six children diagnosed.'' Said Sara McKittrick, Clinical Dietitian at the Diabetes Centre: "What gets overlooked is the effect on the other siblings who worry about their brother or sister taking needles.'' She noted that young children are amazing with the way they cope with the illness.

"It's amazing what kids will do,'' said Mrs. McKittrick, just minutes after 10-year-old Rebecca DeSousa left following an after school visit to the hospital.

"They have no concept of not getting better. The first injection usually is very traumatic but after three or four weeks they are doing it like they have been doing it all their lives.'' Mrs. Jones noted there was a distinct difference between Types 1 and 2 diabetes, with there being no known cause for developing Type 1 while Type 2 can be prevented with proper diet and weight control.

It's an ongoing process of educating people.

"We went to one school and a teacher said to us `if only they had eaten right','' Mrs. Jones stated.

"They are thinking of Type 2 but they don't understand. Type 1 diabetes has been around since the first book was ever written.

"Up until 1921 anyone diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes died. What happens is the pancreas makes and stores insulin and we need insulin because you can't use any of the food you eat if you don't have insulin. Without insulin they would effectively starve to death.

"After 1921 when it was discovered that insulin was the problem and it was a miracle of life for these children. But that was only the beginning because what some people have said is that's when the dying began because diabetes has these horrendous complications attached to it like going blind, losing limbs, kidney disease, heart attacks, strokes. It's the uncontrolled sugar that causes that problem.'' Whereas those persons with Type 2 Diabetes (Bermuda has between 8,000 and 9,000 with this type of Diabetes) can often live without medication, people living with Type 1 diabetes, including the children, have to have insulin injections every day. Their lives are dependent upon a disciplined regimen.

"They have to give themselves insulin and then match it to a meal plan and an exercise programme,'' explained Mrs. Jones.

"They cannot not give insulin and the children are giving themselves four or five injections a day. That doesn't mean that their diabetes is that much worse, what it means is that we understand that controlling the blood sugars is what's important and it's far easier to control those blood sugars with multiple injections.

"The children are having to test their blood sugars six, seven times a day, follow a healthy meal plan and be physically active. They have to match the whole thing together so that they don't have low blood sugars, that the sugars don't go too high, that they eat their meals on time and have snacks with them.'' Most children love to have snacks in their school bags, but for the children with diabetes it is absolutely vital.

"Something like a fast-acting sugar,'' Mrs. Jones pointed out.

"They couldn't travel on the bus or go home with a friend without having some sort of sugar with them in case their sugar drops too low. It's really, really tough and they do incredibly well. They can't go anywhere without a fast-acting sugar with them.

"If their diabetes is well controlled they have the same chance as living as long a life as people without Diabetes, but it's tough. They have to think about their Diabetes every single minute of every day and there is an impact on the families.'' Added Mrs. Jones: "We try to do things for the families that will assist them in coping as best they can. One thing we want to do is a group event with all the families and children and have a psychologist and other health professionals give them guidance and more understanding on how to deal with certain issues with are difficult issues to deal with.'' As well as there being no cure for Diabetes, those in the medical profession are also stumped as to what causes Type 1 Diabetes.

"Every conference that I go to you think they are going to be that much closer to finding out the reason but you find that everything they thought just didn't match,'' she said.

"A cure is obviously the answer but we're not there yet. What we want to do is obviously control the blood sugars as close to normal as we can.

"Normal blood sugar is 70-130 (milligrams per decilitre) and somebody without Diabetes their bodies are so incredibly clever that they keep their blood sugars so tight within that range.

"Once your blood sugar starts going too high that's when the damage to the body occurs. Multiple injections is one way and another way is by pump therapy so they wear what looks like a beeper and in that beeper is cartridges of insulin which will give them a little bit of insulin throughout the day and then they programme it when they eat to give themselves more insulin to cope with the meal they are eating.'' Mrs. Jones explained that only one child on the Island has a pump, which they were put on in Canada.

"It's probably not more convenient but is supposed to give a better level of control,'' she pointed out.

"It just depends on the person with this pump, are they still prepared to test their blood sugars five or six times a day -- and they have to do that!'' According to Mrs. Jones there has recently been some encouraging testing done at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada.

"There are some very good reports of Islet cell (where insulin is made) transplantation where they are taking the Islet cells and transplanting them,'' she disclosed.

"It's only research at the moment, it's not available to everybody, but reports are this is having success.

"Whether you have Type 1 or Type 2 you are at risk of those complications which are caused by elevated blood sugars. Type 2 Diabetes is an epidemic, we have 8,000 people in Bermuda that we know about.

"The worrying thing about Type 2 is it used to be a disease that affected people 40 years and over and now we're seeing it in our teenagers. It's because they are physically inactive and are eating foods that are high in fat and not paying attention to their diet.'' Older Bermudians used to refer to the disease as `Sugar Diabetes' but there is a lot more education out there these days.

"The reason people used to call it `Sugar Diebetes' is because up until 1974 you used to measure the amount of sugar in your urine,'' explained Mrs. Jones.

"It's the body's inability to use the sugar. In Type 1 it's because the pancreas isn't making any insulin, but in Type 2 the pancreas is making lots of insulin, and in many cases making tons, but the cells become resistant to that insulin.

"The reason for that is inactivity and poor diet. But Type 1 has nothing to do with poor eating habits or inactivity. You cannot prevent developing Type 1.'' Added Mrs. Jones: "Many of our children have been triathletes, their families have excellent eating habits, so there is nothing they have done. There's no rhyme or reason, some families have four or five children and just one gets diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

"Thank God we have insulin because if we didn't have insulin these children would still be dying!'' SERIOUS HUMOUR Tickets for the Not the Um Um Show are available from the Bermuda Diabetics Association office at the TB, Cancer and Health Association office on Cedar Avenue or by calling 292-1595.

Doors open 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday for the 8 p.m. start.

Try these: Sara McKittrick, Clinical Dietitian at the Diabetes Centre, displays the types of foods required for a healthy diet.

Photos by Arthur Bean Model patient: Type 1 Diabetic, 10-year-old Rebecca DeSousa gives herself an insulin injection.