Bayer Diabetes Care UK Partners With Pop Star Nick Jonas to Encourage Young People to Proactively Manage Their Diabetes

Bayer Diabetes Care UK Partners With Pop Star Nick Jonas to Encourage Young People to Proactively Manage Their Diabetes

NEWBURY, England, October 15/PRNewswire/ --

- To Launch the Partnership Bayer Invites Kids and Teens With Diabetes to Enter the "Express Your Simple Win Creativity Contest" for a Chance to Meet Nick in Person

- With Photos

Today, Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers has expanded his role as a diabetes ambassador to the UK with the announcement of a new partnership with Bayer Diabetes Care to provide young people and their families with the motivation and support they need to help simplify life with diabetes. Bayer Diabetes Care UK and Nick announced their partnership with Bayer making a donation to the Jonas Brothers Change for the Children Foundation to support Nick's goal of helping children with diabetes.

Nick, now 17, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 13. He is passionate about sharing his personal story because he knows so many young people like him can feel alone and even embarrassed by the condition. Nick feels that it is important to take what he's learned and what works for him and pass it along to others who may be feeling the same way.

"So many fans with diabetes from all over share their stories and thank me for being an inspiration to them. Nearly every day I hear from someone like me who says that I make them feel it's OK to have diabetes and it's really cool that I can do that," said Nick. "I know I'm lucky because I have a family that encourages me a lot. I want to give that same inspiration to other kids with diabetes, and working with Bayer lets me do that." Nick's passion for helping other young people with diabetes by sharing his experience is just one of the ways' he "gives back" to fans. He and his brothers, Kevin and Joe, started the Jonas Brothers Change for the Children Foundation through which they donate funds to several causes including pediatric diabetes research, education and treatment.

Bayer and Nick share a common goal of helping people with diabetes simplify their lives by achieving "Simple Wins": small, everyday victories for managing the condition that can lead to big differences over time. For Nick, a Simple Win is about making other kids with diabetes feel like they can live their dreams and have a positive outlook.

To celebrate the partnership Bayer Diabetes Care and Nick invite kids and teens with diabetes to enter the Bayer "Express Your Simple Win Creativity Contest" online for a chance to win exclusive tickets to see the Jonas Brothers live during their UK tour in November and meet Nick and the band backstage.

Another Simple Win for Nick is writing lyrics, performing and making music. One example of how he was able to creatively express this was through his song about living with diabetes, "A Little Bit Longer." Now he wants to encourage other young people with diabetes to share their creativity and their own personal Simple Wins through the Bayer "Express Your Simple Win Creativity Contest."

"With this contest, I hope people are inspired by others' entries, as well as encouraged to submit and share their own, but most of all, I hope that everyone has fun with it," said Nick. "Diabetes can be hard to live with, but when you manage it well, you can still do the things you love most in the world."

To enter the Bayer "Express Your Simple Win Creativity Contest," young people with diabetes between the ages of 6 and 18 are asked to submit a creative expression of their Simple Win. The submission can be original song lyrics, photography, painting/drawing, poster, collage or another form of creativity. Once the Simple Win entry is complete, applicants can go to http://www.NicksSimpleWins.co.uk to complete the registration form and find out postal information to enter. The competition will run throughout the month of October exclusively.

The contest will close on November 02, 2009 when the top 20 favourite Simple Wins will be picked by a team of judges. Those lucky entrants will win tickets to attend a Jonas Brothers concert and will get to meet Nick and the band backstage; runners up will win exclusive signed Nick Jonas souvenirs.

Through the partnership, young people with diabetes and their families can also log onto http://www.NicksSimpleWins.co.uk where they can check out more about Nick's personal experiences, read Nick's blog posts and share in Nick's ideas on how to achieve Simple Wins. Also available to download is "A Little Bit Longer"; Nick wrote this song when he was having a particularly hard day managing his diabetes and feels supported when his fans sing along to the lyrics.

Diabetes mellitus is a multifactorial disease where the body doesn't produce enough insulin or where the body cannot properly use the exiting insulin. Insulin is a hormone responsible for the regulation of the glucose levels in the blood circulation. In the UK an estimated 25,000 children under the age of 18 have diabetes[1]. Type 1 diabetes, one of the two major types of diabetes, is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. With type 1 diabetes, your body produces little or no insulin, which may result in many complications if glucose levels are not controlled.

Nick uses the new Bayer CONTOUR(R) meter, to test how much glucose or sugar is in his blood so he can determine how much insulin he needs as well as to see how his treatment regimen is working. It's the first thing he learned about managing his condition.

"I check my blood sugar level up to 12 times a day so it's very important that my meter fits with my lifestyle," said Nick. "My new Bayer CONTOUR(R) meter lets me personalize the settings when I need to test myself before a meal or reminds me to check after a meal depending on my schedule on a specific day."

Express Your Simple Wins Contest Terms and Conditions

The contest is open to eligible UK residents between the ages of 6 and 18 who have been diagnosed with diabetes. Restrictions and limitations apply. See official contest rules for more information. Prize winners will be notified on or about the 09 November, 09.

For more information on the official rules and regulations and contest submission guidelines, go to http://www.NicksSimpleWins.co.uk.

About Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care

Bayer HealthCare, Diabetes Care supports customers in 100 countries and stands in a long tradition of leading the way in diabetes care product innovation since the introduction of CLINITEST reagent tablets in 1941. The face of diabetes care was changed in 1969 when the first portable blood glucose meter and test strips were introduced. Bayer HealthCare further innovated diabetes management by being the first company to introduce a suite of blood glucose monitors with No Coding(TM) technology. The BREEZE(R) 2 and CONTOUR(R) blood glucose monitoring systems offer people with diabetes an unparalleled choice in diabetes management systems. Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care global headquarters is located in Tarrytown, New York, in the United States and operates as part of Bayer HealthCare LLC, a member of the worldwide Bayer HealthCare group. The Headquarters for the region Europe-MERA is located in Basel as part of Bayer Con­sumer Care AG, in Basel.

About Bayer HealthCare

The Bayer Group is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of healthcare, nutrition and high-tech materials. Bayer HealthCare, a subsidiary of Bayer AG, is one of the world's leading, innovative companies in the healthcare and medical products industry and is based in Leverkusen, Germany. The company combines the global activities of the Animal Health, Bayer Schering Pharma, Consumer Care and Medical Care divisions. Bayer HealthCare's aim is to discover and manufacture products that will improve human and animal health worldwide. Find more information at www.bayerhealthcare.com.

For more information about Change for the Children visit http://www.changeforthechildren.org.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at http://www.bayer.com The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or development

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[1] JDRF UK: http://www.jdrf.org.uk/page.asp?section=000100010004

Pictures accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. They can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk.

Source: Bayer Diabetes Care UK

Media Contacts for Bayer Diabetes Care UK: Rachel Owen, Bayer Diabetes Care, +44-1635-563410, +44-7836-509262, rachel.owen.ro@bayer.co.uk; Gisela Lenz, Bayer HealthCare, +49-214-30-58080, gisela.lenz@bayerhealthcare.com; Media Contact for Nick Jonas: Stacey Studebaker, M2M Construction, +1-858-812-5617, stacey@m2mconstruction.com

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Profile: International Entertainment