There is good news for type 1 diabetic suffers who may have to test their sugar level up to twelve times day, pricking fingers which become painful over number of years. Cambridge scientists have developed a test whereby the exhaled air will tell the sugar level without the need of testing blood.
Low sugar level, Hypos can suddenly trigger life threatening fits, sending the patient in a coma, thus the need to test blood sugar level every few hours, needing patients to keep handy sugar products, like glucose cubes, sweet chocolate to be taken at the first sign of sugar level dropping.
Presences of high level of certain chemicals in the breath expelled indicate the dropping of sugar level, alerting the patient of imminent danger. As the test is not intrusive, it can be carried out as many times as necessary without any side effects.
As with any new drugs invented, it has to be thoroughly tested on volunteers before it could be widely available to public. So it may take few years before it is available on NHS. But the preliminary results are encouraging. So let us hope for the best.
Kumudini Valambia
By email
