Amelia may be taking the fatty acid or a placebo. Her mom, Tiburon Erickson of Taylorsville, knows she may never benefit directly from the study. But Amelia's 8-year-old brother Ethan was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 5. Ethan and sisters Avery, 5, and Olivia, 2, are all enrolled in studies aimed at broadening medical knowledge of diabetes.

Studies that further knowledge, says Tiburon Erickson, all provide Ethan with the best opportunity to manage his disease, which his sisters may also develop at some point.

Research, adds Murray, has changed the course of the disease. "We have made huge, huge strides in our ability to manage type 1 diabetes. People are much healthier than they were in previous generations. But the only way to stop it is to intervene — identify who's at risk and what we can do to change that risk profile, then do it."

Funding for the NIP trial comes from multiple sources, including the National Institutes of Health, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the American Diabetes Association. For information about the study in Utah, contact Eric Garcia at 801-587-3972.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com