Staff Reporter :
A group of Bangladesh scientists have discovered a new cause of diabetes infections.
They found in the latest research that deficiency of Intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) is one of the main causes of infecting diabetes.
The scientists revealed it in a press briefing at BIRDEM in the capital on Wednesday afternoon.
The results of the research have been published in the famous British Medical Journal.
“The new findings showed that the cause of diabetes is deficiency of Intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP). Declining IAP is one of the leading reasons of infecting diabetes,” Professor AK Azad Khan, President of Diabetic Association of Bangladesh said it in the press conference.
He said that IAP’s major function is to protect intestinal tract against bacteria, help in digestion.
It also plays role of breaking down fats and some formations of B vitamins, and promote bone formation.
Former Assistant Professor of Harvard University, Bangladesh Diabetic Association’s Advisory Professor Madhu S. Malo led the research work.
“This is a ground breaking discovery. This findings proves that the scientists of Bangladesh are also capable of doing major works,” Professor AK Azad Khan said.
A group of researchers from BIRDEM, Diabetic Association of Bangladesh, Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and Harvard University, were implicated in the study.
The researchers said that they had taken 574 people between the ages of 30 and 60 in their study as they were diagnosed with this new cause of diabetes in the last five years.
The scientists are optimis that their findings would play a vital role to prevent diabetes.
Professor AK Azad Khan said the causes of 15 per cent of diabetes in Bangladesh are inherited.
“We have nothing to do to prevent this hereditary diabetes. But, the rest 85 per cent of diabetes are developed by people due to IAP-related reasons,” he said.
People who are sufferings from shortages of IAP are more at risk of infecting this disease, he added.
He said that about 460 million people now suffer from diabetes in the world.
Among them, more than 8.6 million diabetes patients are in Bangladesh.
The scientist said, “There are many reasons behind the large number of peoples’ infection for this disease. However, Bangladeshi scientists have discovered a new cause of the disease.”
