Future diabetes treatment could be tailored to an individual's specific DNA sequence.
This is the conclusion of new research from the Washington University School of Medicine, where doctors have been examining the risk of coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetes sufferers.
The study pinpointed a gene that is known to be associated with inflammation and calcification of arteries. They analysed the variation of just two nucleotides in the gene and found certain variants increased the amount of lesions in the artery.
"For one variant, it has a remarkably strong correlation to the severity of coronary disease," said author of the study Sharon Cresci.
Doctors believe the correlation is so strong the technique may be used to supersede current diagnostic factors such as body mass index, blood pressure and smoking status.
According to the British Heart Foundation, diabetes makes sufferers more at risk of causative heart disease factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol.
© Adfero Ltd
Private diabetes treatment news: 3 October 2011
