New blood test to predict diabetes a decade earlier

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by The Daily Telegraph

A BLOOD test that could predict those at risk of getting diabetes 10 years earlier than current diagnosis has been developed by scientists.

The test can identify around half of people who will develop Type 2 diabetes, said researchers speaking at the British Science Festival in Birmingham.

It works by detecting levels of a genetic molecule in their blood, it was claimed.

The same molecule, called a microRNA (MiR), could help pinpoint sufferers at high risk of heart and artery disease.

Among those who already have diabetes, the test is said to be able to also distinguish between those who will and will not go on to develop some of the complications of diabetes caused by damage to blood vessels, such as heart attack, stroke and poor circulation.

Dr Manuel Mayr, the lead scientist from King's College London, said he expected the MiR test to be used in conjunction with conventional methods. Its biggest advantage was that it directly assessed the damage diabetes was causing to blood vessels.

"It's very important for doctors to define those diabetic patients who are at the highest risk of developing cardiovascular complications," said Dr Mayr.

"We hope that this new class of blood markers may give additional insight that we're currently not getting from other clinical tests."

Being able to identify which people with diabetes are particularly at risk of having a heart attack or stroke should allow doctors to begin early treatment with cholesterol and blood pressure lowering drugs and target it at those who are most likely to benefit.

One type of micro-RNA, known as MiR-126, protects blood vessels from damage.

Healthy blood vessel cells are able to release substantial MiR-126 into the blood stream. However, when they become damaged, they need to keep the MiR-126 for themselves and shed less in to the blood.

The risk of having a heart attack is between two and five times greater in people with diabetes. Around 15 per cent of heart attacks in western Europe are due to diabetes.

The findings were published in the journal Circulation Research.

Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, which funded the research, said: "This is important because right now there is no quick and simple way to monitor blood vessel health.

"Problems go unnoticed until symptoms appear, and the first symptom could be as serious as a heart attack."


From TODAY, Health - Tuesday, 21-Sep-2010
New blood test to predict diabetes a decade earlier
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Detecting Autism thru Brain Scan

British scientists develop brain scan to detect autism

LONDON: British scientists have developed a 15-minute brain scan they hope could be used to detect autism in children, cutting both the time and cost of diagnosing the disorder.

Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London on Tuesday published details of the technique, which has been tested on adults and shown to have 90 percent accuracy in detecting autism.

Children are presently assessed through a lengthy process that tests social interaction, communication and imaginative skills.

A confirmed diagnosis is rare before 18 months, and most often occurs much later.

Christine Ecker, a member of the institute's research team, said the new tool's benefits could be "immense".

"It could help to alleviate the need for the emotional, time-consuming and expensive diagnosis process which ASD (autism spectrum disorder) patients and families currently have to endure," she said.

"We now look forward to testing if our methods can also help children."

The British scientists hope the new method will be both quicker and up to 20 times more cost effective.

The scans cost between 100 pounds (160 dollars, 120 euros) and 200 pounds, far cheaper than current alternatives in Britain.

The technique assesses structural changes in the brain. It is expected to take more than two years before it is ready to be rolled out for general use.

Autism and related disorders affect up to six or seven out of every 1,000 individuals.

Symptoms are lifelong and can vary widely, but often include impaired social skills, repetitive behaviours, difficulty in expressing one's emotions, and an aversion to physical intimacy. There is no known cure.

The new technique developed by the Institute of Psychiatry researchers involves taking pictures of the brain with a magnetic resonance imaging scanner.

The scans are reconstructed into 3D images and analysed by computer software programmed to spot hallmarks of autism in the structure of different brain areas.

The results of testing the technique on 20 adults with autism and the same number of healthy "control" volunteers were published Tuesday in The Journal of Neuroscience".

All those taking part were men aged between 20 and 68. After first being asked to undergo the conventional diagnostic procedure, each participant had his brain scanned. The outcomes of both techniques were then compared.

The brain scan method was 90 percent accurate in correctly identifying the autistic patients. It also showed a negative result for healthy controls in 80 percent of cases. - AFP/jm


From ChannelNewsAsia.com; source article is below:British scientists develop brain scan to detect autism
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