Victorians under 50 years with diabetes are being urged to sign up for an important study to better understand why some people develop complications, and to help researchers better understand the aggressive nature of young-onset type 2 diabetes.
The PREDICTION study, led by the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, will track the health of these Victorians over a 10-year period to examine rates of complications, barriers to care, psychosocial issues, quality of life and more.
Researchers want people under 40 years at the time of diagnosis with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes to join the study to advance understanding of diabetes complications.
Lead researcher, Professor Dianna Magliano says one of area of concern is the more aggressive form of diabetes that can be experienced by young adults with early onset type 2 diabetes. This can be far more aggressive than those with type 1 diabetes and older people with type 2 diabetes.
There are few studies on this. 'We need to understand what's happening and why," Professor Magliano says.
"Diabetes is toxic to nearly every organ but what we see is that some people go on to develop complications and others do not so we need to understand what the drivers are," she says. "We think there are a range of factors at play including genetics, ethnicity and lifestyle.
"By advancing our understanding, we can then identify intervention points to halt the progression of complications such as eye, kidney and heart disease."
This important study was recently given a boost with Professor Magliano receiving a $2.3 million NHMRC Investigator Grant to expand this and other research projects aimed at understanding the trends in the burden, risks and complications of diabetes in Australia.
The PREDICTION pilot study will involve 80 people with type 1 diabetes and 80 people with type 2 diabetes aged 15–39 years who were diagnosed after 2014. This will be followed by a large-scale study involving 1000 people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
All elements of the study will be able to be done online and locally to make it easier for a younger population to participate, and to encourage recruitment from people with diabetes living in regional and rural areas.
The study will start in Victoria but is expected to be expanded to other states including Tasmania, as well as more remote parts of the country.
The PREDICTION study builds on an important study being led by the Baker Institute called PREDICT, which is tracking complications in people with type 2 diabetes. The study recently recruited its 1000th patient.
