23rd January 2012
Welsh scientists at the cutting edge of diabetes research
by Madeleine Brindley, Wales Online Jan 23 2012
Scientists across Wales are at the cutting-edge of research into diabetes:
Experts at Swansea University are working on an alternative to insulin injections – insulin pills.
When you swallow insulin, the stomach breaks it down and digests it so it never gets as far as the intestine where it can tackle blood sugar levels.
Professor Steve Bain and his team at the Institute of Life Sciences will launch a study in March to discover if a coated insulin pill, to protect it from stomach enzymes, is effective in managing diabetes.
Trials have started on a portable microwave probe which was developed at Cardiff University.
The probe, which rests on the skin and is capable of detecting blood sugar levels, could be an alternative to the current finger-prick test.
Research at Swansea University is investigating how often people with type 2 diabetes, who are not insulin-dependent, have to test their blood sugar levels.
Most people currently do blood tests at least three times a week, but it has been suggesting this diabetes can be just as well controlled with occasional clinic blood tests.
Meanwhile, some GPs are reluctant to prescribe testing strips for these patients as they cost the NHS more than £100m a year in the UK.
Another study at Swansea University is looking at whether weight training can help people with type 1 diabetes manage their health.
Dr Richard Bracken, who is leading the study, said: “It’s all about getting knowledge about exercise and ultimately giving it to people with diabetes, because knowledge is power.
“If you know how to protect yourself and still get the maximum benefits of physical exercise and minimum risk then you have a powerful tool for improving your health and extending your life.”
Dr John Mulley, at Bangor University, is in the closing stages of research into a gene called Pdx2, which has been linked to another gene involved in making insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. This could be an important target for new type 2 diabetes drugs.
A research study has been set up by Cardiff University to discover whether children with type 1 diabetes should start treatment at home or in hospital.
Research led by Prof Andy Sewell at Cardiff University has just discovered that immune system cells designed to protect the body from infection could be inadvertently killing the cells which produce insulin.
The discovery could eventually help to predict who is at risk of developing type 1 diabetes and could even help prevent it.
Prof Susan Wong and her team at Cardiff School of Medicine are aiming to produce a “vaccine” to prevent and treat type 1 diabetes by immunotherapy.
She tests specially-bred mice to find out which protein fragments bring about protective immune responses. Once the team have discovered which are the most promising, they can go on to be used in human clinical trials.
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