Researchers have developed a new tool for diagnosing diabetes
The team suggest running the genetic test alongside the existing and more common diagnostic tests, and are now looking at how to develop a test that can be run quickly and cheaply in any clinical laboratory.
Researchers at the UK's University of Exeter have developed a new genetic test for diagnosing diabetes in young adults, which will help doctors determine how likely a person is to have either Type 1 or Type 2 of the disease.
As obesity levels continue to rise, playing a factor in the rise of Type 2 diabetes, doctors are finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish between the two types of the disease accurately. A more accurate diagnosis with the new genetic test would be valuable for diabetes sufferers as the two different types can be treated in different ways. Whilst Type 1 diabetes needs to be treated with insulin injections, Type 2 diabetes can be controlled through diet, exercise, and a healthier lifestyle.
The study was headed up Dr Richard Oram, a lecturer at the National Institute for Health Research and specialist in Diabetes and Nephrology at the University of Exeter Medical School who commented that, "There is often no going back once insulin treatment starts. This may save people with Type 2 diabetes from being treated with insulin unnecessarily, but also stop the rare but serious occurrence of people with Type 1 being initially treated with tablets inappropriately and running of the risk of severe illness."
The team suggest running the genetic test alongside the existing and more common diagnostic tests, and are now looking at how to develop a test that can be run quickly and cheaply in any clinical laboratory.
A copy of the study's abstract can be found online here.
The news comes shortly after a team of scientists from Tec de Monterrey in Mexico and the University of Houston in the USA announced that they had developed a test that could soon make it possible to diagnose Type 2 diabetes with just a saliva sample and a smartphone.
Still in the development phase, this new device could be of particular benefit to communities without easy access to healthcare as it avoids the use of needles. Published in the science journal Investigacion y Desarrollo, the team's report explains how the user can easily check in just a few seconds if they have Type 2 diabetes simply by using a cartridge adaptable to a device such as a smartphone, which will then emit a fluorescent light if the disease is present in the saliva.