Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- A person's risk of developing the more common form of diabetes may be predicted by testing the chemical makeup of two genes, researchers said.

By studying 2,293 people in Finland over 12 years, researchers found that having particular variations of two genes increased an individual's odds of developing type 2 diabetes, which typically occurs in middle age. The study, led by Leif Groop, an endocrinologist at Lund University's Malmo hospital in Sweden, was published today in the online journal PLoS Medicine.

``Genetic testing might become a future approach to identify individuals at risk of developing T2D,'' or Type 2 diabetes, the researchers wrote. The researchers said the disease can be predicted by testing for specific versions of a gene called PPARG, which regulates fat tissue, and another called CAPN10, which modifies certain proteins. Differing versions of genes give rise to different traits. Specific gene versions can make people more or less susceptible to disease.

Genes aren't the only contributor to the disease, the researchers said. Obesity also appeared to raise the chances of developing diabetes, the scientists said in the journal, which is published by Public Library of Science, a San Francisco nonprofit.

Higher Risks

The gene changes raised risks ``particularly in individuals with other risk factors,'' the researchers wrote.

``It would be extremely helpful to know who is at increased risk based on genetics,'' said Nathaniel Clark, national vice president for the Alexandria, Virginia-based American Diabetes Association, in a telephone interview today. ``You could selectively use interventions with these people, such as weight reduction.''

Clark, a 52-year-old endocrinologist, said that knowing of a genetic risk on top of an obesity risk might prompt people to diet who would otherwise not deal with their excess weight.

In previous studies, several other genes variations have been associated with a higher risk of developing the disease. In March 2004, two international research teams, writing in the journal Diabetes, reported finding that variants in a gene called HNF4A also may predispose people to type 2 diabetes. That gene helps regulate cells in the pancreas, influencing the secretion of insulin.

Sixth-Most Deadly

Diabetes ranks sixth among leading causes of death in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, based in Atlanta. People with the disease, which involves above-normal levels of sugar circulating in the bloodstream, have difficulty converting food into energy. That occurs because they produce too little of a substance called insulin or don't properly use the amount they make.

People with diabetes are at increased risk of developing other diseases. More than 65 percent of people with diabetes die from heart attacks or strokes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Many people with diabetes become disabled or suffer from complications including sexual dysfunction, visual disorders and kidney maladies.

Almost 21 million Americans, or 7 percent of the U.S. population, have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2005, 1.5 million Americans aged 20 or older will be newly diagnosed with diabetes, the federal agency says. Type 2 accounts for most of the cases. The rest are Type 1, which typically strikes in childhood and occurs when the body no longer makes insulin.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeffrey Tannenbaum in New York at jtannenbaum@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 31, 2005 20:20 EST