International body recommends more sensitive test to indicate risk of developing diabetes

Subject: Science and tech

Section: Health

Context:

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF), in a position statement, has recommended the adoption of a test measuring blood sugar one hour (1-h PG) after the load of Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) has been administered to check for diabetes risk.

More on news:

A “wealth of epidemiological data” guided the confirmation of the superior purpose in using the 1-h PG (plasma glucose) over even fasting PG (FPG), HbA1c and 2-hour PG across ethnicity, sex and age categories.
The 1-h PG has been found to be a more sensitive biomarker for the earlier identification of these high-risk individuals

Measurement of blood sugar:

The measure of blood sugar one hour after a 75 gm sugar solution is consumed will be a far more sensitive and practical method to screen for intermediate hyperglycaemia (IH), earlier known as pre-diabetes, and type 2 diabetes (T2D) in people at risk.
It recommends the use of the cut-off points of 155 mg/dL for measuring IH, and 209 mg/dL for T2D, meaning any figure higher than specified would indicate a higher chance of diabetes, even if the individual’s fasting and two-hour values were normal.
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) has recommended the adoption of a test measuring blood sugar one hour (1-h PG) after the load of Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) has been administered to check for diabetes risk.
They have also recommended revising glycaemic thresholds to measure and predict the risk of developing diabetes.
The oral glucose test is the best for detecting the onset of diabetes at a future date, and if it is not employed, many remain undiagnosed and untreated.

About Diabetes mellitus:

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease of high blood sugar (glucose) levels that result from problems with insulin secretion, its action, or both.
Normally, blood glucose levels are tightly controlled by a hormone produced by the pancreas known as insulin.
When blood glucose levels rise (for example, after eating food), insulin is released from the pancreas to normalize the glucose level.

Type 1 diabetes:

An absolute lack of insulin, usually due to destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas, is the main problem in type 1 diabetes.
It is to be due to an autoimmune process, in which the body’s immune system mistakenly targets its own tissues (islet cells in the pancreas.
This tendency for the immune system to destroy the beta cells of the pancreas is likely to be, at least in part, genetically inherited, although the exact reasons that this process happens are not fully understood.

Type 2 diabetes:

People who have type 2 diabetes can still produce insulin, but do so relatively inadequately for their body’s needs.
Genetics plays a role in the development of type 2 diabetes, and having a family history and close relatives with the condition increases your risk; however, there are other risk factors, with obesity being the most significant.