A NEW Southampton-based medical study is to investigate whether fish oils can help diabetics avoid blindness, heart disease and having their limbs amputated.

A city podiatrist is launching the 18-month clinical trial to discover if purified fish oil medication can protect against serious health complications triggered by Type 2 diabetes.

If successful it is hoped new treatments will soon be readily available to help improve the lives of some of the 325,000 diabetics living in the south-east.

Keith McCormick, who also works as a University of Southampton lecturer, will study 100 people at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes to determine whether taking high doses of a fish oil-based medication can improve the function of nerves and small blood vessels in the feet.

The £197,000 research study is being funded by Diabetes UK and will focus on a fish oil called OMACOR, found in Norwegian sardines.

Mr McCormick said: “OMACOR has already proved to be extremely successful in the treatment of high triglycerides [a type of fat] in the blood, but if this trial is successful it will provide evidence that treatment with these purified long-chain fatty acids can also serve to improve small nerve and blood vessel function that is very relevant to people at risk of Type 2 diabetes.

“It is hoped this knowledge could then help to improve the lives of people with diabetes who are at risk of nerve and blood vessel damage.”

If left untreated, Type 2 diabetes can lead to health complications such as kidney disease and strokes.

Up to 100 amputations a week are carried out in the UK because of nerve damage arising from it.

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at leading health charity Diabetes UK, added: “Diabetes is one of the biggest health challenges facing the UK today. Approximately ten per cent of NHS spending – £9 billion a year – is spent on diabetes.

“Type 2 diabetes can go undetected for up to ten years, meaning 50 per cent of people already have complications, such as neuropathy, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke, by the time they’re diagnosed.

“The research being funded at the University of Southampton therefore has the potential to identify a readily available treatment to prevent some of the serious complications of diabetes and protect those at risk.”