Bermuda's participation level in an international study testing drugs for the prevention of diabetes has been "truly remarkable", one of the principal doctors overseeing has said.

Dr. Hertzel Gerstein from the DREAM study - spearheaded out of Master University in Canada - told doctors gathered for a lecture at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital on Friday the local screening process organised by the Diabetes Centre was "fantastic".

Bermuda has screened more than 280 people for the study to date, he said, just under half as many as have been tested at more than a dozen screening sites across the United States.

Twenty countries worldwide are participating in the DREAM study which is testing the effect of two medications - ramipril and rosiglitazone - on preventing the onslaught of Type II Diabetes in people who are at high risk for developing the disease because they have impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).

Dr. Gertstein said there are estimated to be 10,000 people in Bermuda who have IGT - essentially `pre-diabetes'.

"It is a major public health problem now and it will continue to be in the future," he said.

Over the course of screening for participants, the doctors and volunteers running the study in Bermuda also identified as many people that have diabetes but did not know as people who met the conditions necessary to be included in the research group.

Dr. Gerstein said studies like DREAM are showing the disease can be successfully tackled.

"We now know Diabetes can be prevented," he said. "The future is really bright."

Those who wish to be considered for the study should contact their physician first for referral to the Diabetes Centre. For more information on the DREAM study please contact Debbie Jones at the centre (239-2027) or Judith Ruijter (236-2345 x. 2093).