Diabetes not only affects your wellbeing in terms of blood sugar, but the disease can also take its toll on your brain and heart wellness. This is why the University of Sheffield’s Medical School – renowned for the quality of its diabetes research and clinical care – is using cutting-edge imaging technology to accelerate ground-breaking research in diabetes, potentially leading to life-changing treatments for millions of sufferers.
According to Magnetic Resonance (MR) expert Professor Iain Wilkinson, ‘Diabetes has been and is today a health issue of severe social and financial importance. Given the massive rate of increase in its prevalence, it is likely to touch and affect the lives of so many people. Not only do alterations in the level of blood glucose cause life-threatening immediate problems, but it is thought that the compounded effects of these abnormal glucose levels lead to an increase in numerous long-term ailments. These include the risk of heart disease and stroke.’
Wilkinson’s team from the Academic Unit of Radiology will be working in partnership with the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, using a pioneering 3T MR scanner to make significant advances in diabetes research. Wilkinson explained, ‘The multi-organ nature of diabetes that may involve both the blood circulation and nervous systems highlights the need to study both heart and brain function at the same time. Until the installation of our new scanner, this was very difficult.’
The new scanner has required funding from various charitable institutions, the latest instalment of which came from the Garfield Weston Foundation – one of the largest and most respected philanthropic institutions in the UK. Wilkinson said, ‘We are enormously grateful to the Garfield Weston Foundation for laying the foundations that will enable our scientists and clinicians to press ahead with this path-breaking work, translating developments in imaging technology into much-needed insights with which we hope to improve the care of people with diabetes.
Peter Agar, Director of Campaigns at the University of Sheffield, added, ‘Imaginative and committed philanthropy is critical in enabling the University to carry out cutting-edge research and transform clinical care. We are very grateful to the Garfield Weston Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and our other supporters for enabling this important programme to go ahead.’