New Type of Blood Test Can Identify Kids at Risk of Diabetes

Scientists at Kings College London have discovered a novel link between lipids and disorders affecting children’s metabolism that may provide an early warning system for obesity-related problems such as type 2 diabetes and liver and heart disease. The researchers say this could assist medical professionals in identifying early disease indicators in children more quickly and facilitating their access to the appropriate treatment by using blood plasma testing machines already in use in hospitals. The findings also contest the common idea that cholesterol is a leading cause of complications stemming from obesity in children, identifying new lipid molecules that contribute to health risks such as blood pressure but are not only correlated with a child’s weight.

In the study, the researchers took a control sample of 1,300 children with obesity and assessed their lipids in blood. Afterward, 200 of them were placed on the HOLBAEK model for a year, a lifestyle intervention for people with obesity that is popular in Denmark. Subsequent readings showed that among the intervention group, counts of lipids tied to diabetes risk, insulin resistance and blood pressure decreased, despite limited improvements in some children’s body mass index.

According to Cristina Legido-Quigley, PhD, a group leader in Systems Medicine at Kings College London, head of Systems Medicine at the Steno Diabetes Centre Copenhagen and principal author of the study, “For decades, scientists have relied on a classification system for lipids that have split them into good and bad cholesterol, but now with a simple blood test, we can assess a much broader range of lipid molecules that could serve as vital early warning signs for illness. In the future, this has the potential to be an entirely new way to evaluate someone’s personal risk of disease, and by studying how to change lipid molecules in the body, we could even prevent metabolic diseases like diabetes altogether.”

The next step for the researchers is to help understand how genetics affects lipids and what this means for metabolic diseases, as well as how these lipids can be changed to improve health.