Metabolomic biomarker research is a young research area that carries great hopes for both medicine and the nutritional sciences, particularly for the early detection of genetically determined diseases. Today, the first Round Table Meeting on Metabolomics & Diabetes will take place in Vienna, bringing together high-level international experts to discuss the state of science and the future of metabolomics in diabetology and the nutritional sciences. The Austrian biotech company BIOCRATES Life Sciences AG provides cutting-edge support to these new research areas by contributing valuable research results, making available state-of-the-art research products, and setting milestones in the early detection of diabetes and in the field of personalized medicine.
“Scientific progress in this field will not only help alleviate personal suffering, it will also make important contributions to stabilizing Western health care budgets.”
Metabolomics and diabetes
Diabetes 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 Düsseldorf 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."
Nutritional interventions for type 2 diabetes management with glycemic control