“Currently testing for diabetes requires a blood test which can be traumatic
for children.
“Also, if the relationship between breath acetone and blood ketone levels is
true at higher levels of ketones, a simple breath-test could assist with the
management of sick days in children with diabetes, preventing hospital
admissions.â€
For more than 200 years acetone has been known to produce a sweet smell on the
breath of diabetes sufferers.
Researchers wanted to test if the smell could monitored accurately enough to
provide a diagnosis.
They collected the breath samples from 113 children and adolescents between
the ages 7 and 18 and also took blood samples.
The found a significant relationship between increased levels of acetone in
the breath of the subjects and increased levels of blood ketones.
Type 1 diabetes develops when the insulin producing cells in the pancreas have
been destroyed.
No one knows for certain why these cells have been damaged, but the most
likely cause is the body having an abnorma reaction to the cells. This may
be triggered by a infection or for genetic reasons.
About 26,500 in Britain have Type 1 diabetes, with diagnosis normally taking
place between the ages of 10 and 14.
The study was published in the Journal of Breath Research.