Research and studies

Research advances in diabetes have led to increased therapeutic options for people with the condition. This has led to increasing levels of satisfaction among the consumers of these treatment options – people with diabetes. One aspect of satisfaction deals specifically with the person's evaluation of medical treatments. Treatment satisfaction

People develop Type 1 diabetes when their immune system specifically seeks out and destroys the insulin-producing ß-cells in their pancreas. The interaction of environmental factors with a number of gene variants results in the immune disturbance which causes the condition. In this article, Tony Merriman looks at the approaches used to identify the genes which make a person susceptible to Type 1 diabetes.

Diabetes is classified into two major types: Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes, and Type 2 diabetes. However, it is apparent that there are some forms of the condition which do not fit comfortably into these categories. Indeed, there is one form of diabetes which appears to straddle the two major types. While it appears to affect adults with Type 2 diabetes, it shows many of the genetic, immune, and metabolic features of Type 1 diabetes, and carries a high risk of progression to insulin dependency. This form of the condition is known as 'latent autoimmune diabetes in adults' (LADA).

Type 2 diabetes has reached pandemic levels, with the global number of people with the condition predicted to exceed 330 million by 2025. Overall, at least 50% of those with diabetes presently do not know that they have the condition. In developing countries the proportion with undiagnosed diabetes is considerably higher. At the time of clinical diagnosis, every second person with diabetes has already developed one or more micro- or macrovascular complications.