ICCD

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Improving Clinical Care in Diabetes

  • IRAS ID

    226337

  • Contact name

    Angus Jones

  • Contact email

    Angus.jones@exeter.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    10 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Diabetes is one of the most common conditions in the world. It is a condition that occurs when the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood is too high. Insulin is a hormone that helps move glucose into our cells, where it is used as fuel for energy. The most common subtypes of diabetes are Type 1 and Type 2. People with Type 1 diabetes rapidly stop making their own insulin, so need insulin injections from diagnosis. In type 2 diabetes there often some resistance to the action of the insulin hormone, combined with a slow reduction in the bodies secretion over years which leads to an eventual need for insulin injections in most people with this condition.
    Progression of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes is very variable. Many patients with type 1 diabetes keep making some insulin for many years, which makes keeping glucose levels well controlled much easier, whereas other lose all their own insulin secretion very rapidly. In type 2 diabetes some people will need insulin within a year or two of diagnosis, whereas others may not need insulin treatment for many decades. The reasons for the variation in progression seen in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are poorly understood.
    This study aims to determine the predictors of differences in diabetes progression. This will help us understanding the reasons for variation in progression, which is important for developing new treatments to slow progression, and help doctors identify those patients who will rapidly progress. These patients may benefit from closer monitoring, and use of alternative treatments that may slow progression.
    For this study we will recruit 2000 participants with diabetes aged 16 years old and above.
    We will record clinical features, biomarkers, medical history and diabetes treatment, and seek consent to use and store left-over samples taken as part of routine clinical care or in some cases take extra blood tests as part of the study. We will follow participants for up to 10 years after recruitment using electronic healthcare records where available and by re-contacting participants (by phone, email or in person) to collect data that will inform diabetes progression including treatment change and development of diabetes complications.
    This will be a low cost study with minimal patient burden without the need for frequent face to face participant research visits.

  • REC name

    East Midlands - Leicester Central Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    18/EM/0041

  • Date of REC Opinion

    6 Feb 2018

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion