Last week, the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation launched a new screening program for Type 1 diabetes (T1D), called T1Detect. Itís the first of its kind, where anyone, at any age in the general population, can do an autoantibody screen.According to the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation, T1Detect is a blood test to detect autoantibodies in the blood, which indicate early stages of T1D. Individuals will then be able to work with their doctor and hopefully avoid serious and sometimes life-threatening conditions, such as diabetic ketoacidosis, along with possible hospitalizations that can be more common at the onset of the disease.Dana Slack, development manager, Mountain West Chapter, Junior Diabetes Research Foundation, said having T1D changes everything about your life. She said with this test, not only can individuals learn if they are at risk, but researchers can use the information to learn how to delay the onset of T1D. Slack said there havenít been many studies to test and study the general population, so the more people who participate and engage in the screening, the more theyíre going to understand the disease and hopefully answer questions, such as why do some people get it and some donít, what is the trigger and how can it be delayed or stopped altogether? The test kit can be ordered on the JDRF website.Slack said part of the cure for diabetes is to make sure no one else gets it.
