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New and better ways to deal with diabetes are being made possible thanks to a research grant of £315,000 from the Freemasons’ charity the MCF in partnership with Diabetes UK.
The money is a vital part of research by PhD students at Imperial College and Swansea University. Says researcher Liliane El Eid, from Imperial College: “Thanks to funding from the Freemasons, I’ve been able to conduct my work. Without their generous support, I would have been unable to complete important research testing to understand how we can prevent type 2 diabetes and potentially help many around the world.”
She’s exploring the mechanism which allows the pancreas to release insulin, which could lead to creation of new drugs that could help to ‘switch on’ insulin production and in turn prevent type 2 diabetes.
MEANWHILE at Swansea University Oliver Richards has improved the screening process for gestational diabetes, that can develop during pregnancy. It occurs when pregnancy hormones make it hard for the body to use insulin properly, resulting in high blood sugar levels. While gestational diabetes usually goes away after giving birth, it can increase risk of type 2 diabetes in later life. Current screening for this form of diabetes is time-consuming and expensive, as mothers must fast overnight and be in hospital for several hours.
Oliver worked with Professor Thornton to develop a quicker, cheaper and more informative test for expecting mothers. This could reduce the time and cost of diagnosis, allowing the NHS to screen more pregnant women who are more likely to be at risk for gestational diabetes.
This research found that the new test works effectively with a non-invasive finger prick blood test, which is less invasive for the mother and easier to administer for hospital staff, making the testing process more time and cost effective. Moreover, this new method could provide further health information that could help to decrease the risk of pregnant women developing type 2 diabetes in later life.
Over 4.9 million people in the UK are living with diabetes which, if untreated, can lead to health complications, like eye, foot or heart problems. Around 90 per cent of people with diabetes have type 2, and it is predicted that over 850,000 people have type 2 diabetes and are unaware of it. The series of research by the PhD students aimed to improve the treatment and diagnosis of different forms of diabetes, and protect people with the condition from its long-term complications, tackle some of the problems that diabetes can cause and improve the lives of many living with the condition.
