- According to the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal, Diabetes may actually be of five types and not just type 1 and type 2 as generally perceived.
- Who: The researchers from the Lund University Diabetes Centre, Sweden, and Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland says that the five types found diabetes had different characteristics, with different complications, and called for different treatment needs.
- Type-1: Type 1 diabetes is generally diagnosed in childhood and caused by the body not producing enough insulin.
- Type 2: Type 2 occurs later in life. and is occurs when our body cannot produce enough insulin to meet increased demand imposed by obesity and insulin resistance. About 75-85% diagnosed cases are reported from type 2 diabetes. It can be avoided by making lifestyle changes such as taking more exercise and eating a healthy diet.
- About the new types: The new four types of diabetes are sub-types of type-2.
- The scientists identified one autoimmune type of diabetes in which the body produced chemicals that destroyed insulin.
- Three forms were severe and two mild.
- Among the severe forms, one group had severe insulin resistance and a significantly higher risk of kidney disease than the other types.
- Another had relatively young, insulin-deficient individuals with poor metabolic control but no auto-antibodies.
- The remaining severe group was insulin-deficient patients who had auto-antibodies associated with autoimmune diabetes, the form called type-1, or latent autoimmune diabetes in adults.All five types were genetically distinct.
How will the new categorization help?
- The researchers says that early treatment for diabetes is crucial to prevent life-shortening complications. More precision diagnosing diabetes could give valuable insights into how it will develop over time, allowing the medical fraternity to predict and treat complications before they develop.
