Using stratified medicine in diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a common long-term condition characterized by raised blood glucose levels secondary to an absolute or relative deficiency of insulin production from the pancreatic islet -cells. Diabetes is highly heterogeneous in terms of aetiology1, making it a good candidate for stratified medicine approaches. Clinical studies have shown that the standard first-line treatments for Type 1 diabetes (insulin) and Type 2 diabetes (metformin) are not applicable to the rarer monogenic forms of diabetes, so in these cases making a molecular diagnosis can help to direct and optimize treatment.