If diabetes is diagnosed in the early stages, remission can often be achieved with lifestyle interventions. However, in practice the diagnosis is often only made when the first damage to organs or nerves has already occurred. A new method based on a mathematical calculation based on a blood sample could significantly improve early diabetes detection.
A new study, in which experts from the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) were also involved, examined whether determining the plasma concentrations of insulin and glucose in the blood enables an early diagnosis of diabetes. The results are published in the “Journal of Diabetes”.
Diabetes often goes undiagnosed
Many people suffer from diabetes without knowing it. This means that urgent treatment cannot be provided without a diagnosis of the disease. In fact, according to study author Johannes Dietrich, thirty percent of all people with diabetes are undiagnosed.
“Diabetes begins gradually, and our diagnostic options are, on the one hand, not sensitive enough to detect it, but on the other hand, not specific enough, so there are also false positive results,” explains the expert in a press release.
What is SPINA Carb?
The new procedure, called SPINA Carb, requires only a blood sample taken in the morning before breakfast and is based on mathematical modeling. Two measurements in particular play an important role in diagnosing diabetes: insulin and glucose.
“We put these values into an equation that describes the body’s control circuit for sugar metabolism and break it down into a specific size,” explains Dietrich. The result is referred to as a so-called static disposition index (SPINA-DI).
Computer simulations have shown that the new parameter also confirms the theory of dynamic compensation, according to which insulin resistance in people with metabolic syndrome is compensated for by the pancreatic beta cells increasing their activity.
Finally, the study also showed that the calculated SPINA-DI correlates with relevant indicators of metabolic function, such as the response to an oral glucose tolerance test, adds Dietrich.
Advantages of SPINA-DI
In addition, the SPINA-DI provided more reliable results in the diagnosis of diabetes compared to other markers of glucose metabolism. In addition to the more precise and reliable results, the new method has another advantage that should not be underestimated: it is particularly cost-effective.
According to the researchers, the calculation of the static disposition index (SPINA-DI) could supplement or even replace various more complex methods established in the professional world in the future. (as)
