Pinnacle People proudly supports the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) who raises money to drive world-class research into finding a cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications; a lifelong autoimmune disease that usually occurs in childhood but can be diagnosed at any age. Type-1 diabetes affects over 122,300 people in Australia alone and unlike other forms of diabetes, type-1 has no known cause or cure and cannot be controlled by diet.
Our participation to support this cause, came about in 2010 when Managing Director, Wendy Mead’s relative was diagnosed with diabetes. Today, we are pleased to know that researchers have launched a pilot program that aims to create a non-invasive way of testing every Australian child for type-1 diabetes, led by Dr Kirstine Bell.
“Our aim is to be the first in the world to have routine screening for type-1 diabetes,” shares Dr Kirstine Bell.
Dr Bell, a diabetes researcher based in the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, said being able to identify the disease earlier means doctors can treat it earlier as well.
How will it work?
The tests will look for particular chemical markers that can indicate if a person is at risk of developing the disease months or years before they develop symptoms. Unfortunately there is no cure for type-1 diabetes, but by identifying people earlier we can dramatically reduce the instance of diabetic ketoacidosis at diagnosis and that’s a huge benefit as this could be a lifelong disease.
In addition to preventing DKA, people with autoantibodies can start monitoring early, and potentially enrol in clinical trials for new therapies that can delay or prevent the onset of T1D.
Dr Dorota Pawlak who is the chief scientific officer at peak body JDRF Australia, which is funding the research, said many families only receive a diagnosis of diabetes for their child when they are experiencing diabetic ketoacidosis, a serious complication that can sometimes be fatal.
The program was in its early stages and the researchers still needed to “do their homework” about aspects of the pilot including what age groups to target and which communities to start with, but they would also look at the potential burden on families and the cost to the health system.
If the pilot study is successful, researchers hope to expand to a national screening program – where all children are tested for islet autoantibodies once they reach a certain age.
We can’t wait to hear more about this discovery. JDRF shares more here.