Did you know that 9 out of 10 children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes have no family history of the condition?
The Type 1 Diabetes National Screening Pilot program, funded by JDRF, has now launched in WA for children aged 2, 6 and 10 living in the cities of Melville and Canning to identify children from the general population who may be at risk of developing the condition.
WA investigator on the screening program Dr Aveni Haynes, who heads up epidemiology research at the Rio Tinto Children’s Diabetes Centre, said early diagnosis of type 1 diabetes could help avoid children becoming seriously sick before diagnosis and improve their risk of long-term complications.
“The screening program involves a free, simple test that can be done by families at home, or with the support of their GP/participating pharmacy. Parents can register for their free test kit online at www.kidsdiabetesscreen.com.au, which will then be delivered to their house,” Dr Haynes said.
“The free test involves doing a simple finger prick to collect a bloodspot sample from your child onto a piece of card, and then posting this for testing using the envelope provided. Families will receive the test results and advice on what to do with them.”
In this early stage, this screening program is only being offered to children living in these specific areas who are either 2, 6 or 10 years old, with or without a family history of type 1 diabetes. For families that live elsewhere in WA or who have children of different ages and have a family history of type 1 diabetes, there is an existing screening program called Type1screen which provides screening for relatives of people with type 1 diabetes – you can find information on Type1Screen here How to Get Involved – Type1Screen.