SCIENTISTS in the region have made an important breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes.

Research carried out at Newcastle University has confirmed that a new drug seems to stop the disease in its tracks.

If it is borne out by a larger trial, the drug could prevent millions of people worldwide developing a disease which can lead to heart disease, kidney failure and blindness.

The UK is experiencing a dramatic increase in people with diabetes, partly due to growing obesity.

Experts predict there could be four million people with type two (non-injecting) diabetes in the next ten years.

Study investigator Dr Mark Walker, of Newcastle University, said the results of the drug trial were "very encouraging and an exciting breakthrough."

Diabetes UK, the British charity which represent 1.4m people with the disease, said the research was "very interesting".

The drug, Avandia, given to people who already have type two diabetes, was taken by a small number of patients showing signs of the disease.

Type two diabetes tends to affect the over-forties and is caused by a combination of a fall in the amount of insulin produced by the body or an impaired sensitivity to insulin. Diabetics with type one disease need to inject insulin from an early age.

One of the symptoms of someone developing type two diabetes is a condition known as impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).

Doctors found that four out of the nine patients who took Avandia for 12 weeks reverted to normal glucose tolerance.

While it is too soon to say whether the drug merely delays the development of type two diabetes or will actually prevent the disease, it has caused a stir in the diabetes world.

Dr Walker, who will announce the results of the study at the conference of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, in Glasgow, today, said: "Studies have shown patients with IGT who increase their exercise levels and improve their diet are less likely to develop type two diabetes, but for some patients, especially those who are old or already very overweight, this is not a practical option."

"The drug therefore represents a therapeutic alternative for those patients that cannot make the necessary lifestyle changes."

The study was carried out in collaboration with Liverpool University.

www.diabetes.org.uk