Some people can now get a type 1 diabetes test that helps doctors know if they are in the early stages of type 1 diabetes and are going to develop it in the future. This is called type 1 diabetes screening, and it can help people prepare for a diagnosis and access new treatments designed to hold off the condition’s full development.
Is there a type 1 diabetes test?
In type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, so you can’t produce it anymore. This immune attack starts months or years before someone develops the symptoms of type 1 diabetes and is diagnosed.
With a simple blood test, it’s possible to look for markers in your blood that tell us the attack has begun. These markers are called type 1 diabetes autoantibodies. If you have two or more of them, it means you have an almost 100% chance of being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in your lifetime. We call this early-stage type 1 diabetes.
This test is not the same as a blood glucose test, sometimes called a finger-prick test, that a doctor might do to diagnose type 1 diabetes if you already have symptoms of type 1 diabetes.
Find out more about how type 1 diabetes screening works
How to get tested for type 1 diabetes risk
Type 1 diabetes autoantibody screening isn’t yet available in the UK outside of research studies.
We’re funding a UK-first project called the ELSA study that’s screening 20,000 children, aged between three and 13 years, to test for type 1 diabetes autoantibodies. Find out more about the ELSA study and how your child can take part.
ELSA will help us work out the most effective way to deliver a future screening programme for type 1 diabetes in the UK. Screening could transform the way we detect and manage the condition in its earliest stages.
“Avishai told me about his friend James getting ill with type 1 diabetes. When I heard about the ELSA study, I told Avishai right away. I thought if he is at risk of type 1 diabetes, I would rather know sooner than when he could become ill and end up in hospital like his friend James. It wasn't something we took too long to decide about really. As soon as we got the invite to take part, we thought it was a good idea.” Prity, whose son Avishai was screened in the ELSA study.
Adults aged between 18 and 70 years can sign up for a similar study, called the T1DRA study. It's recruiting 20,000 adults to screen them for autoantibodies and understand more about how type 1 diabetes develops in adults. Find out more about the T1DRA study and how to take part.
Is type 1 diabetes genetic?
We don’t know exactly what causes type 1 diabetes. There are certain genes that can increase your risk of getting type 1, and if you’ve got a close relative with type 1 diabetes then your risk is slightly higher. But many people with type 1 diabetes don’t have any family history of diabetes.
There are DNA tests that can tell you if you have a high genetic risk of developing type 1 diabetes. The more high-risk genes you have, the more likely you are to develop type 1 diabetes.
But most people with a high genetic risk will never go on to develop the condition.
Can type 1 diabetes be prevented?
Unlike type 2 diabetes, where research has shown that prevention of type 2 diabetes may be possible for some people through changes to diet and physical activity, and losing weight, currently there is no known way to prevent type 1 diabetes.
But researchers are working on new treatments designed to hold off the immune system attack and delay, or even one day, prevent type 1 diabetes, called immunotherapies.
One immunotherapy drug called teplizumab has been licensed for use in the UK in people with early-stage type 1 diabetes. Studies have shown that teplizumab can give people in the early stages of type 1 diabetes up to three more years before the condition takes hold.
We’re funding research to test more immunotherapies in clinical trials, to find more that work and build the evidence to get them approved. Researchers hope that in the future immunotherapies could hold off the type 1 diabetes immune attack for much longer, possibly for life, to prevent type 1 diabetes entirely.
You can’t get type 1 diabetes autoantibody screening outside of research studies at the moment, so it’s important to know the symptoms of type 1 diabetes. If you or someone you know develops any of these symptoms, you should speak to your GP or call NHS 111 urgently.
The symptoms of type 1 diabetes
- Toilet - going for a wee a lot, especially at night
- Thirsty - being really thirsty
- Tired - feeling more tired than usual
- Thinner - losing weight without trying to
- Genital itching or thrush
- Cuts and wounds take longer to heal
- Blurred eyesight
- Increased hunger.
