OXFORD, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 18, 2024--
New research published in Diabetic Medicine this week found that the standard NHS procedures for processing gestational diabetes blood sugar tests were leading to more than 50% of cases being missed. If undiagnosed or untreated gestational diabetes is associated with serious complications for the mother, such as the development of preeclampsia, and for the baby an increased risk of admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for breathing difficulties, low blood sugar and in some severe cases, a risk of major complications including stillbirth and death. These risks can be reduced with timely diagnosis and intervention during the pregnancy.
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The study, carried out by Professor Claire Meek of the University of Leicester and colleagues at the University of Cambridge with funding from the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) found that processing the blood sugar test of mothers at risk of gestational diabetes more quickly could lead to more accurate diagnosis of this serious condition.
A new world-first at-home oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), developed by British digital clinical diagnostics company Digostics (GTT@home), analyses the blood sugar tests immediately, with results instantly shared with the requesting antenatal care team for diagnosis and clinical review. This overcomes the problems with sample processing and delayed testing carried out in hospital or community-based OGTTs as identified by Professor Meek’s study. The GTT@home test is already being successfully used by NHS trusts.
Using standard NHS sample processing procedures, 9% of women in the study were diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The researchers found that when blood was processed more quickly, 22% of women in the study were found to have gestational diabetes, a difference of 13%. Without faster sample processing, more than half the women found to have gestational diabetes would have gone undiagnosed.
Professor of Chemical Pathology and Diabetes in Pregnancy, Claire Meek said: “Gestational diabetes, which affects women in pregnancy, is very common in the UK and causes complications at the time of birth, affecting both mother and child. Fortunately, most complications can be prevented by accurate diagnosis and access to treatment. However, if the diagnosis is not accurate, then affected mothers cannot access the treatment they need.”
The Digostics GTT@home test not only avoids the false negative results issues identified in Professor Meek’s study but is also more convenient and accessible as the patient doesn’t have to travel, especially as the test must be carried out first thing in the morning. Travelling to take the test means patients must arrange childcare, take time off work, or manage transportation, and studies have shown that women from socio-economically deprived groups, black ethnicity, or with mental health issues are less likely to attend or complete OGTT appointments. With at-home testing women who may have struggled to attend clinic-based tests can take the test in comfort on the day most convenient for them.
James Jackson, Founder and CEO of Digostics, commented, “Professor Meek’s research definitively shows that in the UK standard OGTT testing is failing to diagnose more than 50% of women who have gestational diabetes during pregnancy. Without a diagnosis, the risks of gestational diabetes cannot be mitigated and mothers and babies are being left at risk of serious, lifelong, and life-threatening health complications.”
“The at-home OGTT we have developed avoids the sample processing delays identified in Professor Meek’s research, and we’re identifying a higher rate of gestational diabetes than in-clinic OGTTs. Patients find the test easy to use and we’re extending access to screening to women from underserved patient groups frequently marginalised by in-clinic OGTT provision. The GTT@home test is in use across a number of NHS Trusts in England, and we are in discussions with many more to make this important new technology available to more expectant mothers who are at risk of gestational diabetes.”
About Digostics
UK-based Digostics' mission is to enable healthcare providers to identify everyone with diabetes and those at risk of developing diabetes by eliminating the common barriers that inhibit accurate and timely testing using the gold standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).
User with GTT@home test device (Photo: Business Wire)
MAMOUDZOU, Mayotte (AP) — Relatives of families struggling after Cyclone Chido ripped through the French island territory of Mayotte expressed helplessness Wednesday, a day before France’s president and another 180 tons of aid were expected to arrive.
Some survivors and aid groups have described hasty burials, the stench of bodies and the devastation of precarious informal settlements whose population of migrants makes it even more challenging to determine the number of dead.
Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean off Africa’s east coast, is France’s poorest territory and a magnet for migrants hoping to reach Europe. Already, France's interior minister this week has proposed cracking down.
The cyclone on Saturday was the deadliest storm to strike the territory in nearly a century. It devastated entire neighborhoods on the collection of islands with winds that exceeded 220 kph (136 mph), according to the French weather service. Many people had ignored cyclone warnings, thinking the storm would not be so extreme.
Now residents pick their way across a landscape in search of water and food as telecommunications remain tenuous and even sturdily built structures including health centers have been damaged.
French Prime MInister François Bayrou on Tuesday said more than 1,500 people were injured, including more than 200 critically, but authorities fear hundreds and possibly thousands of people have died.
On the French island of Reunion about a three-hour flight away, loved ones were coming together to donate aid for survivors. Some said their families in Mayotte had no food or water and roofs were blown off houses. It had taken days to make contact with some.
“It is difficult because I feel helpless,” said Khayra Djoumoi Thany, 19.
Anrafa Parassouramin also has family in Mayotte. “We are also afraid of disease outbreaks, because people are drinking water from wherever they can get it, and it’s not necessarily potable water,” she said.
Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq has raised concerns about the risk of a cholera epidemic on the archipelago which earlier this year had an outbreak of a highly drug-resistant strain of the disease.
French authorities said the distribution of 23 tons of water began Wednesday.
The French minister for overseas matters, François-Noël Buffet, told French radio Europe 1 that aid brought by plane has started being allocated to locations across Mayotte.
The minister said the water supply system was “working at 50%” and presented a risk of “poor quality.” Electricity had partially resumed.
Mayotte’s hospital was badly damaged. A field hospital should be operational by early next week, Buffet said.
A Navy ship was due to arrive in Mayotte on Thursday with 180 tons of aid and equipment, according to the French military.
French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Mayotte on Thursday and visit a hospital and a destroyed neighborhood, his office said. “Our compatriots are living through the worst just a few thousand kilometers away,” Macron said in a statement.
Some residents of Mayotte have long criticized the French government of neglect.
On Tuesday evening, a program on public broadcaster France 2 raised 5 million euros ($5.24 million) in aid for Mayotte through the Foundation of France charity, the channel said.
Corbet reported from Paris.
This satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Bandrajou in the Indian Ocean the French territory of Mayotte, on Dec.15, 2024, after the cyclone Chido. (CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)
This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN) shows Bandrajou, in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, before the cyclone Chido. (IGN via AP)
This satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows the port of Mamoudzou in the Indian Ocean the French territory of Mayotte, on Dec. 15, 2024, after the cyclone Chido. (CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)
This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN) shows Doujani in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, before the cyclone Chido. (IGN via AP)
This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN) shows Mtsapere, in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, before the cyclone Chido. (IGN via AP)
This satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Mtsapere in the Indian Ocean the French territory of Mayotte, on Dec. 15, 2024, after the cyclone Chido. (CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)
This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN), left, and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows the port of Mamoudzou, before and after of the cyclone Chido in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte. (IGN/CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)
This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN), left, and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Bandrajou, before and after of the cyclone Chido in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte. (IGN/CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)
This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN), left, and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Mtsapere, before and after of the cyclone Chido in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte. (IGN/CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)
This satellite photo provided Wednesday Dec.18, 2024 by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Doujani in the Indian Ocean the French territory of Mayotte, on Dec. 15, 2024, after the cyclone Chido. (CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)
This undated photo provided Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024 by the French Interior Ministry shows gendarmes clearing a road in the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after the island was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century, (Ministere de l'Interieur/Gendarmerie Nationale via AP)
This undated photo provided Tuesday Dec. 17, 2024 by the French Interior Ministry shows devastated houses in the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, after the island was battered by its worst cyclone in nearly a century, (Ministere de l'Interieur/Gendarmerie Nationale via AP)
Volunteers sort through donations for victims of cyclone Chido in Mayotte at the House of Mayotte, in Saint-Denis, Réunion Island, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)
Volunteers sort through donations for victims of cyclone Chido in Mayotte at the House of Mayotte, in Saint-Denis, Réunion Island, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)
Volunteers sort through donations for victims of cyclone Chido in Mayotte at the House of Mayotte, in Saint-Denis, Réunion Island, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)
This undated satellite photo provided on Wednesday Dec. 18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN), left, and the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) shows Doujani, before, left, and after the cyclone Chido in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte. (IGN/CNES distributed by Airbus DS via AP)
Volunteers sort through donations for victims of cyclone Chido in Mayotte at the House of Mayotte, in Saint-Denis, Réunion Island, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)
This undated satellite photo provided Wednesday Dec.18, 2024 by the Institut Geographique National (IGN) shows the port of Mamoudzou, in the Indian Ocean French territory of Mayotte, before the cyclone Chido. (IGN via AP)
People bring goods for victims of cyclone Chido in Mayotte at the House of Mayotte, in Saint-Denis, Réunion Island, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrienne Surprenant)
