Free Testing to Those with Family History of Diabetes through Oral Insulin Trial at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes
AURORA, Colo. (Nov. 12, 2007) - Researchers at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus are participating in a $1.14 billion international clinical study to learn whether oral insulin (taken by mouth) can prevent or delay type 1 diabetes in some people at risk for the disease.
The study, paid for by the National Institutes of Health, provides free testing for diabetes autoantibodies to those with a mother, father, brother, sister or child who has type 1 diabetes. These autoantibodies, which signify an increased risk for developing the disease, can be identified up to 10 years before diagnosis. Screening involves a simple blood test and is free of charge.
For those that have a first-degree relative with type 1 diabetes the risk of developing type 1 goes from 1 in 250 to 1 in 20 and the number of people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes is increasing each year, especially in children under age five. Adolescents under the age of 21 who have an immediate family member or a close relative, such as a cousin or an uncle, who has type 1 diabetes, can also be tested for free for the autoantibodies.
People who are identified as being at the highest risk can participate in research to see if type 1 diabetes can be prevented or delayed. Only a handful of people screened each year as part of the oral insulin trial will qualify to participate.
Researchers at the Barbara Davis Center want to know if one insulin capsule a day can prevent or delay type 1 diabetes in a specific group at risk. An earlier clinical trial suggested that oral insulin might delay type 1 diabetes for about four years in certain people. Some scientists think that introducing insulin via the digestive tract induces tolerance, or a quieting of the immune system. Oral insulin has no known side effects.
"Our goal is to prevent type 1 diabetes or to delay it as long as possible," said Jennifer M. Barker, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics at the UC Denver School of Medicine. "If diabetes can be delayed, even for a few years, those at risk may be able to postpone the difficult challenges of trying to control their glucose levels and development of serious complications. Serious complications of type 1 diabetes include heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney damage and lower-limb amputations.
The Barbara Davis Center is one of more than 150 medical centers in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia participating in this study as part of Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet (www.DiabetesTrialNet.org ), a global network of diabetes researchers dedicated to the study, prevention, and early treatment of type 1 diabetes. It is funded by the National Institutes of Health and supported by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International and the American Diabetes Association.
The Barbara Davis Center also has opportunities for people recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes to participate in studies. For more information on type 1 screenings and studies at the Barbara Davis Center, contact Lisa Meyers at (303) 724-6893, call (866) 613-0012 or visit www.barbaradaviscenter.org.
The University of Colorado Denver is one of three universities in the University of Colorado system. Located in Denver on the Downtown Campus and at Ninth & Colorado Blvd., and on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colo., University of Colorado Denver is Colorado's premier research university offering more than 100 degrees and programs in 12 schools and colleges and serving more than 28,000 students in Metro Denver and online. For more information, visit the web site at www.ucdhsc.edu or Newsroom at http://www.uchsc.edu/news.