Breath test that tells diabetics if blood sugar dips

A BREATH test that alerts diabetes sufferers if their blood sugar is dangerously low is being developed by Cambridge researchers.

They discovered high levels of a chemical in the exhaled air of those experiencing a rapid fall in blood sugar, known as a “hypo”. Experts hope it will replace the finger-prick test used by hundreds of thousands of patients with the type 1 condition and that it can be used throughout the day.

Hypos can happen suddenly, triggering a fit, coma or death. The discovery, outlined this week in the journal Diabetes Care, came after a trial of eight women in their forties with type 1 diabetes.

When their blood sugar was low, their breath contained almost double the amount of a chemical called isoprene.

Experts are developing a breath test capable of detecting isoprene, although it is in the early stages and is unlikely to be available within five years.

However, they hope it will spare patients the ordeal of having to prick their fingers to test their blood-sugar levels – which some have to do up to 12 times a day. Type 1 diabetes is thought to be genetic, rather than type 2, which is triggered by obesity.

Those who regularly suffer from hypos, or hypoglycaemia, are at higher risk of heart disease and brain damage.

Study leader Dr Mark Evans said: “It’s our vision that a new breath test could at least partly – but ideally completely – replace the finger-prick test, which is inconvenient and painful for patients, and relatively expensive to administer.

“Isoprene is one of the commonest natural chemicals that we find in human breath, but we know surprisingly little about where it comes from.

“We suspect it’s a byproduct of the production of cholesterol, but it isn’t clear why levels of the chemical rise when patients get very low blood sugar.”

The breakthrough also explains why it is possible to train sniffer dogs to detect a hypo. With their incredible sense of smell, dogs find it easy to identify isoprene and can be trained to alert their owners about low blood-sugar levels. – Daily Mail