Tears instead of blood

Glucose levels in diabetes can be tracked by tears

Svetlana Maslova, Hi-tech+

Japanese scientists have developed a test that can determine the condition of a patient with diabetes in a non–invasive way – by human tears. This is a very simple and at the same time informative alternative to blood tests that need to be performed several times a day.

Analysis of tears is able to provide an informative assessment of glucose levels in the body in patients with diabetes, scientists from University of Tokyo. About their new approach, which could potentially replace the daily grueling finger piercing to monitor the course of the disease, writes EurekAlert. Currently, only invasive methods of assessing glucose levels in the body are available to diabetic patients, and although other non-invasive alternatives are being studied by scientists, so far none of the approaches has become an effective replacement for the blood test.

Previous studies of the glucose level in tears have shown that it generally corresponds to the amount of glucose in the blood. In the new study, scientists focused on the indicators of glycosylated albumin, which reflects the average glucose level over the past two weeks, and studied the correlation of this indicator between blood and tears.

In diabetic patients who took part in the experiment, scientists found a significant correlation of glycosylated albumin in blood and tears. The results persisted even after taking into account indicators such as gender, age, kidney function and obesity.

Scientists are evaluating a new approach to an effective alternative blood test. And it will be informative regardless of the concentration of the biomaterial, they emphasize.

Now the team intends to optimize the evaluation process and develop appropriate measuring equipment.

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