17 June 2013
AN IDENTICAL twin who tragically lost her mother to diabetes is supporting a new £385K bid to find the exact cause of diabetic nerve damage – which can cause severe and intractable pain.
Janet Cotterill, 42, from Woodhouse Moor, is urging anyone who wants to help find a cure for diabetes to join a pioneering study being trialled at Sheffield’s Royal Hallamshire Hospital looking at how blood flow in the brain may impact on nerve pain.
Diabetic nerve pain has a massive impact on the quality of people’s lives – physically, socially and cosmetically. Only two-thirds of patients get 50 per cent pain relief, with many enduring foot deformities, ulcerations, and an inability to feel their feet.
Janet is the eighth person to have been recruited to the trial. It is one of the first diabetes trials in the country to look at the brain using gadolinium contrast scanning: a technique used to improve the clarity of the scanned images of the inside of your body through a quick injection. The technique is commonly used in standard medical care. The study has the potential to enable some patients to get a diagnosis of the condition early.
Janet said: “My mum died of diabetes 16 years ago this June. She had kidney failure, heart problems, and two leg amputations. The Council had even adapted the house so that she could live downstairs, but unfortunately she never got to use the extension. That’s why I want to do everything I can to help researchers find a cure for the disease or alleviate symptoms.
“If someone told me years and years ago I’d be taking part in clinical research, I’d have laughed out loud, but it’s really interesting and I’m doing my bit to fight against the disease and help patients in the future.”
During the study, specialists will be examining 60 diabetes patients and their responses to pain. One third of patients taking part will have diabetes and no nerve damage, a third diabetic painful nerve damage and a third diabetic painless nerve damage. Key investigations include: measurements to decipher how well the nerves are working, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to look at people’s brains to see which parts are talking to each other, how well blood supply is working and how pain is perceived.
“I could have nodded off when they were taking images of my brain,” the former London Olympics 2012 volunteer added. “I found it really interesting being able to find out more about the condition and the MRI scan was even quite relaxing!”
The study is being funded by a European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes grant, awarded to Professor Solomon Tesfaye and Dr Dinesh Selvarajah of the Royal Hallamshire Hospital’s diabetes department and Professor Iain Wilkinson of the University of Sheffield’s Academic Radiology department.
Dr Marni Greig, clinical research fellow at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Diabetes can cause nerve damage, leading to loss of sensation in the feet and legs. In some patients this results in severe intractable pain. Despite intensive research, the exact cause of this damage is unclear. If differences in blood flow in the brain are found, we will be able to gain a better understanding of how the processing of pain signals is altered by diabetes. This may ultimately lead to better treatments, which could alleviate the problem.”
The study is being run in partnership with Professor Rayak A Malik from the University of Manchester and Professor Irene Tracey, Nuffield professor anaesthetic science from the University of Oxford.
To find out more, contact the diabetes research team at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital on 0114 271 2568.
National Diabetes Week is run by Diabetes UK.
ENDS
