Breath test to monitor diabetes

Scientists may have discovered a method of monitoring for diabetes using breath-analysis rather than a blood test, a new study has suggested.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Journal, used a chemical analysis technique developed for air-pollution testing.

Children with type-1 diabetes were found to exhale significantly higher concentrations of methyl nitrates when they are hyperglycaemic.

It is hoped the discovery could precede the invention of a breath device that can warn diabetics of high blood sugar levels and the need for insulin.

Currently, diabetics monitor blood sugar levels using devices that break the skin to obtain a small blood sample so a breath test would be far more convenient.

Dr Pietro Galassetti, a diabetes researcher with the General Clinical Research Centre (GCRC) at the University of Irvine in California, worked on the project.

He said: "Breath analysis has been showing promise as a diagnostic tool in a number of clinical areas, such as with ulcers and cystic fibrosis.

"While no clinical breath test exists yet for diabetes, this study shows the possibility of non-invasive methods that can help the millions who have this chronic disease."

The study involved using breath-analysis testing on 10 children with type-1 diabetes mellitus.

Researchers took air samples during a hyperglycaemic state and progressively as they increased the children's blood insulin levels.

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