DIABETICS in Southampton are to benefit from a new £67,000 study into how the condition affects people.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has awarded £33,000 to a research team at the University of Southampton, which will be followed with another £34,000 next year.

Scientists based in the university's Human Genetics Division will look at how different cells affect diabetes and hope the study will support JDRF's ultimate goal - to find a cure for the condition.

Researcher Dr Lee Turnpenny said: "We are hopeful that, in the future, the findings from our study will make a real difference to the lives of people with diabetes.

"Without JDRF funding it would not be possible to pursue this research and we are grateful for the charity's ongoing support."

The funding is part of £5m currently being spent on diabetes research across the UK.

A Walk to Cure Diabetes, held in Southampton in September, has already raised £68,000, with a further £12,000 expected, meaning the project could be supported for two years by the money raised by locals at this event alone.

Type one, or juvenile diabetes, currently affects 350,000 people in the UK and, across Europe, incidences are increasing by three to four per cent every year in children aged under 15.

People with this form of the condition must test their blood at least six times every day and are dependent on insulin injections to stay alive.

But insulin does not stop the long-term effects of diabetes which can include blindness, limb amputations, strokes and heart disease.