Metabolomics and diabetesDiabetes mellitus type 2 is a metabolic disorder characterized by high blood glucose levels. Previously also referred to as 'non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus' or 'adult-onset diabetes,' diabetes mellitus type 2 increasingly affects younger individuals and even teenagers. "Diabetes is among the most important challenges to the health care systems of Western societies," explains Professor Michael Kunze, Head of the Institute for Social Medicine and Chairman of the international Round Table Meeting on Metabolomics. "Scientific progress in this field will not only help alleviate personal suffering, it will also make important contributions to stabilizing Western health care budgets."

Inadequate metabolic control and treatment can lead to myocardial infarction and stroke. Next to genetic predisposition, the most important risk factors for diabetes are obesity (especially increased waist circumference), increased blood pressure (hypertension), and elevated blood lipids (cholesterol). The combination of these risk factors is referred to as metabolic syndrome. Although still a very young research field, metabolomics has already made important contributions to the prediction of diabetes risk well before the disorder has become manifest. Professor Michael Roden, German Diabetes Center D sseldorf says: "It is high time that novel research avenues such as metabolomics be pursued and refined. The development of new biomarkers for the early detection of diseases should be given utmost priority."

Source BIOCRATES Life Sciences AG