Genetic Test for Type 2 Diabetes: A Marginal Advance

Icelandic biotechnology company DeCode Genetics says it will sell a genetic test for type 2 diabetes, but how useful will the $500 test be?

Spurred by rising rates of obesity and insufficient exercise, Type 2 diabetes affects 21 million Americans and is among the fastest-growing chronic diseases in the U.S. DeCode's test might help more than 50 million people on the cusp of diabetes understand their risk and perhaps use diet and exercise to avoid the disease, [DeCode CEO Kari Stefansson] said.

This is a risk factor for diabetes that we have discovered,'' he said in a telephone interview. It's our duty to allow people to have themselves tested for it.''

The average person's risk of developing diabetes is about 7
percent. A positive result on DeCode's test raises the risk to about 14 percent, said Harvard Medical School's C. Ronald Kahn, head of obesity and hormone action research at the Joslin
Diabetes Center in Boston. People who heed the test can cut their risk of diabetes with just modest activity and 500 fewer calories in their daily diet, he said.

Type 2 diabetes is so serious a problem, and the baseline risk of 7 percent so high, that anyone interested in staying healthy ought to eat well and exercise.

Larry Deeb, president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association, says he worries that patients might view a negative result as permission to live carelessly. “The test isn’t black or white. Just because you don’t have the gene, that doesn’t mean you have zero risk,” says Deeb. “So we don’t want to be telling people that if they test negative, they can just sit on the couch and not worry. They’re still not off scot-free.”

DeCode to Offer Genetic Test for Type 2 Diabetes Risk in U.S. [Bloomberg News]

Risk Assessment [Newsweek]

Image: Avya Kata