Goal to improve diabetes support
£2.6M PROJECT FOCUSING ON UNDER-40S WITH THE DISEASE
FUNDING has been awarded to researchers for a five-year project that aims to develop a new type of care package for under-40s with type two diabetes.
The £2.6 million M3 project is being led by Professor Melanie Davies, director of the National Institute for Health Research Leicester Biomedical Research Centre and Leicester Diabetes Centre, and brings together experts from across the UK and abroad.
Researchers will work with patients, healthcare professionals and NHS decision-makers.
When type two diabetes occurs in people under the age of 40 it is considered early onset and often occurs alongside conditions such as obesity and high blood pressure, as well as mental health problems like anxiety or depression.
It is associated with an increased risk of developing harmful health problems over these people’s lives.
The researchers said though people with early onset diabetes often have different lives and circumstances to older adults, treatments and programmes to help them manage have been based on evidence from studies in older people.
Dr Jack Sargeant, a researcher on the M3 project, said: “We often hear that people with early onset type two diabetes struggle to find advice and resources that address the issues they have, whether that’s mental health, family life or something else.
“By designing this programme with people who live with early onset type two diabetes, we will develop the treatment packages that these people need to get the best care possible.”
After the programme has been designed, a clinical trial to test the approach will be run in Leicester, London, Derby and Liverpool.
Prof Davies, who is Professor of Diabetes at the University of Leicester, said: “We hope to create a new type of care to meet the needs of people with early onset type two diabetes and improve their wellbeing.
“We also want to use the very latest technology and approaches to really make a difference.”
If you are under 40, have type two diabetes and would like to get involved, email: