Researchers from Cardiff University have developed a tool which can predict whether certain children may go on to develop diabetes. The tool could lead to an earlier diagnosis, which could be lifesaving.
The research was headed up by Dr Julia Townson, a Senior Research Fellow at Cardiff University. Her team, which was supported by funding from Diabetes UK, used artificial intelligence and electronic health records to develop a predictive tool.
Data from one million children was used to train the tool to spot patterns in GP records that could signal a potential case of type 1 diabetes. To see if the tool could spot children already diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, the researched assessed how well it worked using GP and hospital records from another 1.5 million children.
They found that the use of AI would allow children to receive a diagnosis 11 days earlier than they had. This time can be vital in ensuring children can have earlier access to insulin therapy, which reduces the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis.
Dr Townson said: ‘We are now looking to see how this tool might work with primary care computer systems. If possible, this would enable us to carry out a feasibility study to assess the acceptability of the tool with GPs.’
She continued on to say that while use of the tool ‘may be some years away yet,’ they are hopeful it will provide ‘a vital new avenue for early diagnosis of diabetes which could save lives.’
Dr Lucy Chambers, Head of Research Communications at Diabetes UK, explained that Type 1 diabetes ‘isn’t currently preventable and is an extremely serious condition.’
‘If left undiagnosed, it can progress and lead to dangerous complications very quickly, so finding a way to catch the condition and treat it early could help to avoid emergency hospital treatment and save lives,’ she said.
Beth Baldwin tragically lost her 13-year-old son, Peter, to diabetes ketoacidosis in 2015. When he passed away, he was undiagnosed type 1 diabetes. Baldwin told Diabetes Times: ‘Life without Peter is incredibly hard, but the potential to speed up diagnoses of type 1 diabetes for others in the future, and in doing so save lives in his memory, drives us and keeps us going.’
‘If our work stops even one family going through the experience of losing a child to type 1 diabetes, it will have been worth it,’ Baldwin said.