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UMMC joins international research effort to prevent Type 1 Diabetes

Published on Tuesday, December 3, 2013

By: Jennifer Hospodor

The University of Mississippi Medical Center is now part of Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, an international network of researchers led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that is exploring ways to prevent and delay type 1 diabetes.

As a member of TrialNet, UMMC offers screening for relatives of people with type 1 diabetes to determine their risk of developing the disease. TrialNet screening, which consists of a blood test, identifies specific risks for developing type 1 diabetes up to 10 years before symptoms appear.
 
Screening is available at no charge to people who are age 45 and under and have a parent, sibling or child with type 1 diabetes; or age 20 and under and have a niece, nephew, aunt, uncle, grandparent, half-sibling or cousin with type 1 diabetes.
 
“This screening is extremely important for families with a history of type 1 diabetes,” said Dr. Naznin Dixit, professor and chief of pediatric endocrinology and diabetes, who serves as principal investigator for TrialNet at UMMC. “It offers a better understanding of the development of type 1 diabetes and helps discover innovative ways of preventing and delaying type 1 diabetes.”
 
Those identified as having an increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes may be eligible to enroll in clinical studies that test methods of preventing and delaying the disease. If diabetes can be delayed –  even for a few years – those at risk may be able to postpone the difficulties of trying to control glucose levels and the potential development of complications.
 
For people identified as already being in the early stages of type 1 diabetes, TrialNet offers intervention studies that are testing ways to slow down the disease’s progression.
 
It is estimated that as many as three million Americans have type 1 diabetes. TrialNet is asking everyone who has a family member with type 1 diabetes to get involved in this research by getting screened.
 
For more information about type 1 diabetes screening and research studies offered at UMMC, please call 601-815-9172 or email ped-clinicalresearch@umc.edu.
 
TrialNet is funded by NIH and sponsored by the American Diabetes Association and Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International. For more information about Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet or to find a location in another part of the country, call 1-800-425-8361, or visit www.DiabetesTrialNet.org.