Bermuda is emerging as a leading international research centre within a massive international research study aimed at preventing diabetes.

To date, Bermuda's Diabetes Centre, and a dedicated volunteer research team, are leading 40 medical centres in six countries involved in the groundbreaking study in terms of identifying eligible participants.

Diabetes Centre coordinator Debbie Jones told The Royal Gazette that19 participants have already been identified locally and 91 people have been screened.

That is the highest number of participants identified by any centre within a group of prestigious international research institutes which include the Banting-Best Centre for Diabetes Research and Mount Sinai Hospital.

Globally only 295 participants have been identified to date, Ms Jones said, meaning that tiny Bermuda accounts for 6.4 percent of the total participants.

Local organisers are shocked and delighted to find themselves responsible for such a success as a first time research centre.

The group's star performance has drawn raves from study organisers and Bermuda has been invited to give a presentation next month at a conference for all study participants on the secrets of the local success.

"It is a big step forward for Bermuda to be part of a multi-centre worldwide trial," said King Edward VII Memorial Hospital Chief of Medicine Dr. Shane Marshall.

"It shows that we can work with the best of them."

Bermuda is hoping to identify 200 people to join a total of 4,000 across the globe who will test the effectiveness of two drugs - Romapril and Rosiglitazone - in preventing onset of Type 2 Diabetes.

The two drugs being tested are not experimental. They are prescribed, safely, daily for other health problems but have shown potential for preventing the onset of diabetes.

Within Bermuda the study is being run as a co-operative venture between the Diabetes Association, the Heart Foundation and the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Marshall said the dedication of the study's 30-odd volunteers and the successful recruitment of local physicians into the study have been key to the success of the DREAM (Diabetes Reduction Assessment with ramipril and rosiglitazone Medications) study in Bermuda.

The local team has been screening participants since September in those hopes of finding 200 people who do not have diabetes, but are at risk to develop the disease.

In September, the local team made a presentation to physicians to try and recruit them as "sub-investigators" within the study.

Physicians are now referring those potentially at risk into the DREAM screening process on a regular basis.

This grassroots approach has been one of the key factors in drawing a large number of potential participants to the study, The Royal Gazette was told.

And while only 19 of the 91 screened in Bermuda are appropriate candidates for the drugs trials, the remaining 72 have also received health benefits.

Dr. Marshall explained that many have been diagnosed with diabetes but with early detection the effects of the disease can be minimised and more easily controlled.

Bermuda has also been praised for the high quality of data being submitted to the study's chief investigators in Toronto.

Screening for participants will continue at the hospital every Saturday until December 2002, Ms Jones said.

The screenings run from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Those interested in participating in the DREAM study should contact the Diabetes Centre at 239-2027.

There are roughly 8,000 people in Bermuda with Type 2 diabetes another 8,000 may be at risk to develop the disease.