A fast and simple blood test, done on people at high risk, readily detects diabetes in the doctor's surgery.

Around two per cent of the population may have undiagnosed diabetes, putting 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 Duke University in the US and the Durham Veterans' Affairs Medical Centre have been trying out a new blood test.

The HgA1c test can detect 75 per cent of cases of diabetes and does not need the person involved to fast. The researchers carried out the test in 1,253 male patients aged 45 to 64, none of whom had previously been diagnosed with diabetes. They found 4.5 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.

Source

Journal of General Internal Medicine January 2002