Protein reveals diabetes risk many years in advance

When a patient is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the disease has usually already progressed over several years and damage to areas such as blood vessels and eyes has already taken place. To find a test that indicates who is at risk at an early stage would be valuable, as it would enable preventive treatment to be put in place.


Researchers at Lund University have now identified a promising candidate for a test of this kind. The findings have been published in the journal Cell Metabolism.


“We have shown that individuals who have above-average levels of a protein called SFRP4 in the blood are five times more likely to develop diabetes in the next few years than those with below-average levels”, says Anders Rosengren, a researcher at the Lund University Diabetes Centre (LUDC), who has led the work on the risk marker.


Higher levels in diabetes patients

It is the first time a link has been established between the protein SFRP4, which plays a role in inflammatory processes in the body, and the risk of type 2 diabetes. Studies at LUDC, in which donated insulin-producing beta cells from diabetic individuals and non-diabetic individuals have been compared, show that cells from diabetics have significantly higher levels of the protein.

Source: http://www.health.am/db/more/protein-reveals-diabetes-risk-many-years-in-advance/

chiropractic back pain solution neck pain solution headache help