Research study looking for participants
July 6th, 2024
The Type 1 Diabetes Risk in Adults (T1DRA) study is recruiting 20,000 adults, aged 18-70 living in the UK for important research into type 1 diabetes. By testing a small finger-prick blood sample collected at home, we can find those who are at increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes in future. It is led by Professor Kathleen Gillespie at the University of Bristol and is funded by the Helmsley Charitable Trust (https://helmsleytrust.org/).
Type 1 diabetes is a serious, lifelong autoimmune condition affecting up to 400,000 people in the UK. It occurs when the immune system makes a mistake and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. This means people can no longer make their own insulin and their blood sugar levels become dangerously high. T1DRA aims to find adults who are at increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes to understand more about what happens before symptoms appear.
Less than 1% of people tested will be high risk and we will provide guidance about the signs of type 1 diabetes. This should help prevent symptoms being overlooked which can result in an emergency diagnosis.
Look out for the symptoms – The 4 Ts
Thirsty – being constantly thirsty and not being able to quench it.
Toilet – going for a wee more often, especially at night.
Tired – being incredibly tired and having no energy.
Thinner – losing weight without trying to.
What would taking part in T1DRA involve?
1. Visit our website to download and read our participant information sheet.
2. Sign up for T1DRA online by completing our consent survey.
3. Receive a finger prick home collection kit in the post.
4. Return your sample to our laboratory using the freepost packaging.
We test four islet autoantibodies in our laboratory. If we find you are at risk, we will invite you to join our yearly follow up and monitoring studies.
Find out more –
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