If you know a little about diabetes, you might think that type 1 diabetes develops from childhood, whilst the wellness of others is at risk of developing type 2 diabetes later on in life. In fact, type 1 diabetes can develop in adults, and is known as latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, or LADA.
LADA is also known as type 1.5 diabetes or double diabetes, and works by destroying the cells that produce insulin, known as your beta cells, which live in your pancreas. Insulin is a hormone that converts the body’s blood sugar to energy, and if you don’t have enough of it your wellbeing is at risk to high blood sugar levels, which, if untreated, will result in nerve damage, blindness, and other problems.
According to Priscilla Hollander, MD, PhD, an endocrinologist at Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas, even though LADA is similar to type 1 diabetes, it is sometimes initially mistaken for type 2 diabetes as diabetics with LADA are diagnosed after the age of 30. The most common form of type 1 diabetes, on the other hand, usually develops in children or adolescents. Hollander explains that the symptoms to type 2 diabetes are similar to those who suffer with LADA, hence the confusion ‘Their sugar may start to pick up a little bit. They may be thought of as an early type 2 or a thinner type 2.’
However, the difference is that LADA progresses more quickly than type 2 diabetes, and those who have LADA are often at a healthy weight, unlike those with type 2 diabetes who are overweight and could wait months or even years for their high blood sugar problems to develop. This difference is important when it comes to treatment, as the drugs typically used for type 2 diabetes patients, such as metformin, will eventually stop working for LADA patients as their immune systems destroy more insulin-producing cells.
If you believe you may have LADA, the first thing you need to do is consult your physician. There’s also a Facebook group you can join to chat with other people who have the disease. According to Rebecca Gill, the LADA sufferer who set up the page, ‘We’re all experiencing the same thing’ and so over 100 members can share stories, trade advice, and provide support for each other, as the people with LADA are ‘scared and anxious. We let them know that this is manageable.’
Comments are closed.