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By Kirsten Houmann, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent
ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Using genetics to predict type 2 diabetes may not be as big of a breakthrough as researchers hoped -- at least not yet.
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Although recent research has identified 18 gene variants that increase an individuals risk for type 2 diabetes, a recently published New England Journal of Medicine study suggests screening for these variants doesnt identify adults at risk much better than screening based on traditional risk factors like weight, blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
Researchers assigned a genotype score to each participant, which was based on the number of risky gene variants each person inherited. They then compared that number to the predictive value of family history or physical risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Although the genotype score confirmed the role of the 18 genes in type 2 diabetes risk, it didnt determine who would develop diabetes significantly better than family history or physical risk factors did.
Philip Levin, M.D., director of the Diabetes Center at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Md., who is not affiliated with the study, says promising results lie below the surface of the studys overall conclusion.
Its just going to take awhile to refine and come up with a set of genetic variables with the [best] predictive power, Dr. Levin told Ivanhoe. I think conceptually, its good and promising, but I think its a little early to try to make an individual prediction.
SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with Philip Levin, MD;New England Journal of Medicine, 2008;359:2220-2232
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