Medical kit developed to catch killer
July 18, 2003 Edition -1
Jo-Anne Smetherham
Medical Research Council scientists are developing the world's first kit to predict the onset of diabetes.
The kit will be adequate for use in primary health-care clinics because only a simple blood test will be required to predict the onset of high blood sugar levels, according to the Medical Research Council's diabetes research group.
Patients who know they are likely to develop diabetes could then change their diet and lifestyles - and probably avoid developing the condition.
The scientists are confident their work will be successful.
"There is evidence suggesting one can detect the onset of high blood sugar," said research unit director Sonia Wolfe-Coote.
"Our past work has shown that changes in blood chemistry are associated with diabetes.
"We have been looking at it again, and relating it to changes in the pancreas.
"Now we are looking for a marker in the blood that is associated with those changes."
The Diabetes Research Group has a "rough idea" of what this marker is, but the researchers say they cannot yet divulge it.
Johan Louw, a senior specialist scientist, is the other researcher.
A kit to predict the development of high blood sugar levels could be used across the world, said Louw and Wolfe-Coote.
