An inventive blood test for diabetes

According to a study from researchers, steadfast and simple blood test was done on people at high risk that readily detects diabetes in the doctor's surgery. Around three per cent of the population may have undiagnosed diabetesputting themselves at increased risk of heart disease and kidney problems. The standard test involves measuring blood sugar and requires many hours of prior fasting. However, doctors at Hopkins University, have been trying out a new blood test.

The HgA1c test can detect 60 per cent of cases of diabetes and does not need the person involved to fast. The researchers carried out the test in 1,000 male patients aged 40 to 60, none of whom had previously been diagnosed with diabetes. They found 4 per cent of them had diabetes, according to the HgA1c test and confirmed by conventional testing. It may not be practical to screen the entire population by HgA1c of course, but the researchers suggest it could be worthwhile among patients with one of three risk factors - obesity, high blood pressure or a family history of diabetes.