Diabetes Test Results May Be Deceptive in Black Children Study finds racial disparities in
hemoglobin A1c screenings
(HealthDay News) -- Black children with type 1 diabetes score higher than
whites with similar blood glucose levels on a critical test, potentially
leading their physicians to give them the wrong treatment, a new study
says.
The test "can be deceptive in African-American children with diabetes,
misleading their doctors into believing that glucose levels are higher
than they really are," research team member Dr. Stuart A. Chalew,
professor of pediatrics at Louisiana State University Health Sciences
Center, said in a news release from the school.
If doctors don't take both the test and self-monitored blood sugar levels
into account, "they are likely to unintentionally provoke increased
episodes of life-threatening hypoglycemia [low blood sugar] in
African-American patients," Chalew said.
Chalew and colleagues tracked 276 children with type 1 diabetes for six
years at Children's Hospital of New Orleans. The average age was 12.5
years and they had had diabetes for about five years, on average.
Researchers looked at results of the hemoglobin A1c screening test, which
is an indicator of blood sugar levels over the previous two or three
months. They also tracked blood sugar levels from glucose tests that the
participants gave themselves for at least a month.
The researchers found racial disparities in the screening test results.
"Besides the risk of over-treating with insulin and provoking
hypoglycemia, the data also suggest that there is a need for alternate
therapies to reduce diabetes complications other than insulin and other
glucose-lowering agents," Chalew said.
The study is published in the May issue of the journal Diabetes Care.
Morehouse School of Medicine Receives
DOD Grant for Breast Cancer Research
MSM team searching or new path to cancer prediction and new
treatment at genetic level
E. Shyam P. Reddy, Ph.D., professor and co-director of the Cancer Biology
Program at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), has been awarded a $105,000
grant from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (DOD-BCRP)
for his novel research into Breast Cancer Type 2 susceptibility protein
(BRCA2), which helps suppress breast cancer.
The BRCA2 gene is a major player in cancer research now because not only
does it help suppress breast cancer, but researchers have also found that
in people where this gene is damaged, mutated or altered there is a much
higher risk of developing breast, ovarian or prostate cancer. Under the
grant, Reddy's lab is taking this well known information a step further.
His team is investigating the degradation of an enzymatic process called
N-glycosylation, which weakens BRCA2 as it circulates in the body over
time. Reddy says this weakening or lessening of circulating BRCA2 has the
potential to predict breast cancer. The process has never been described
in eukaryotic cells, which contain a nucleus. As part of his research,
Reddy is investigating effective therapies to prevent this degradation and
prevent breast cancer from developing.
"The grant is unique because reviewers chose participants without knowing
the names of investigators or institutions involved in the application for
funding," says Reddy. "As it turns out, only five percent of the grants
were awarded to institutions in the U.S." Reddy also is a Georgia Cancer
Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar at MSM.
The BCRP encourages risk-taking research and challenges the scientific
community to design innovative research that will foster new directions
for, address neglected issues in, and bring new investigators into the
field of breast cancer research. The BCRP focuses its funding on
innovative projects that have the potential to make a significant impact
on breast cancer, particularly those involving multidisciplinary and/or
multi-institutional collaborations.
