Detecting Diabetes With Light
Type II Diabetes is one of the most dramatic and dangerous problems associated with obesity. Now there is a new device that uses light to provide early diagnosis for this disease. The device projects light into the skin in order to measure the presence of glycation endproducts. These compounds are created throughout the body when there is abnormally high blood sugar. Testing takes about one minute, during which the device shines differing wavelengths of light into the arm. This stimulates fluorescence, which the machine interprets to provide an indication of diabetes risk.
The new diagnostic technique may become an important screening technique in that it can help the early detection of a pre-diabetic. Early intervention is important to prevent the actual onset of Diabetes II.
Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) are recognized biomarkers for diabetes, and as a predictor of complications that may lead to blindness and kidney disease. Because they can be detected in the skin, they serve as an indicator for the cumulative damage to the body resulting from the affects of high blood sugar. AGEs specifically affect the proteins that make up blood vessels, connective tissue and skin, and are thought to be major factors in aging and age-related chronic diseases. Non-invasive skin detection of AGEs could replace the conventional fasting plasma glucose test as the medical workhorse for screening those suspected of having diabetes.
With current screening methods as many as 50% of diabetics are not diagnosed until the disease is well advanced, with one or more often irreversible complications. A more accurate and convenient screening method could dramatically reduce the costs and health risks associated with those complications, allowing patients to halt or even reverse the progression of the disease if it is caught early enough.
Until the advent of Scout, a skin biopsy was the only way to detect AGEs, which made the method impractical for clinical use. Scout measurements can be made any time of the day because fasting is not required. It takes less than 60 seconds to produce a result. Clinical trials are currently underway.
The device is currently being tested in hospitals across the country.
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