Besides people with newly diagnosed diabetes, it is recognised that there are people who are at higher risk of developing diabetes. The presence of autoantibodies in the blood denote a person with increased risk. A model for development of diabetes is;
A large study is underway in Finland to shed light on the diabetic natural history. The Diabetes prediction and prevention study (DIPP), was launched in 1994. Every infant born in 3 finnish cities is recruited; those who are predicted to have the highest risk genotype are followed until they are 15 years of age. 80 thousand babies have been screened, of which 10 thousand are being followed up. Of the 10 thousand 550 have developed antibodies. These children are then treated with insulin via nasal spray. It is hoped that the earlier treatment with insulin, may prove beneficial even thought the american DPT-1 trial showed no benefit from either injected or oral insulin.