Diabetes research Food Information Sheet Diabetes research A group of Norfolk people with diabetes are helping scientists and doctors at the Norwich Research Park understand why diabetes is often associated with a higher risk of having a heart attack. Volunteers with and without diabetes are taking part in a joint study between the Bertram Diabetes Research Unit at the West Norwich Hospital, the School of Biological Sciences at UEA and the Institute of Food Research. The aim is to improve the understanding of heart disease in diabetes and to try and find out how and why the two conditions might be linked.
Blood contains two types of cells - red and white.
While the red ones carry oxygen round our bodies, the white ones have a variety of roles, such as fighting disease and repairing damage. Some of the white ones are of particular interest to the NRP researchers. Here they cause several reactions, some of which can actually lead to further injury to the artery wall. But it is not clear what causes the monocytes to move to the damaged site and set off these reactions. Heart disease causes new chemicals to be released into the blood, or increases the levels of some of the ones already there.