How many different 'types' are there? Diagnoses Stories.

I think the point about this is that what they are trying to do currently is prevent the trigger from causing an effect, rather than prevent the trigger itself. And if they can identify how to stop the trigger then all the better. Sorry if I didn't come across clearly.

tim2000s said:

I think the point about this is that what they are trying to do currently is prevent the trigger from causing an effect, rather than prevent the trigger itself. And if they can identify how to stop the trigger then all the better. Sorry if I didn't come across clearly.

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No you don't have to be sorry at all, my mind is working over time today, Prevention is always better than a cure, but it baffles me on how they would achieve this, with whom, who would be 'tested for this' if they actually found and identified the trigger ?
Maybe I will just have forget about this, or it will drive me Thank you for your reply tim.

RRB

Daibell said:

Note that DUK doesn't even acknowledge LADA.

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With a positive GAD test a year ago my consultant said I was LADA. A few months back at a hospital appointment a new (to me) DSN read out my notes, which said I was a T1 in the honeymoon stage. No mention of LADA in my notes at all.

Re the suggestion that there may be hundreds of unclassified types of diabetes (which I have alluded to on this forum several times, and I am sure has been pointed out elsewhere too): I heard this point made in a formal presentation by Professor Sir Stephen O'Rahilly in 2010, and confirmed in a subsequent conversation I had with him. If you google him you will see that this man knows his stuff about the genetic causes of diabetes.

tim2000s said:

?..something earlier happening to the body that restricts or destroys its ability to produce enough insulin to function properly.

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With type 2 diabetes the ability to produce insulin is neither restricted nor destroyed unless left uncontrolled for a long period of time. In fact, type 2s can have complications as they have TOO MUCH insulin floating around their body. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body is producing insulin as it should but is unable to use it due to insulin resistance.

I also don't believe they will ever be able to figure out what the trigger for autoimmune diabetes is in order to "stop it" as there are just far too many possibilities. If they can do that then they can cure all autoimmune diseases that are "triggered" and I can't see that happening either anytime soon. Certainly not in my lifetime.

Also, my consultant tested for all beta-cell and insulin autoantibodies, not just GAD, so it is certainly possible to do this if the NHS decide to do a thorough job in order to give a proper diagnosis.

Which is why they are trying to find a way to stop the trigger from working.

Surely you can't stop it from working if you don't know what it is?

Ian DP said:

With a positive GAD test a year ago my consultant said I was LADA. A few months back at a hospital appointment a new (to me) DSN read out my notes, which said I was a T1 in the honeymoon stage. No mention of LADA in my notes at all.

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Hi. That's good because some would say, including me, that LADA is really no different from any other T1; it just occured later. I know some experts would say there is a difference e.g. T1s produce no insulin but that's not true and many LADAS produce very little. My 22 yr old nephew ended up in A&E with DKA and was then diagnosed as diabetic so was producing very little insulin (don't know what he's listed as). My Diabetes GP said 'that's very unusual' (which it isn't) and said I wasn't a T1 therefore a T2 (nonsense) i.e. I wasn't born with and hadn't heard of LADA. With so much ignorance and confusion it is hopeless trying to look for triggers and so on. If the NHS can improve the understanding of LADA etc then with the better data that results it might be easier for researchers to separate out the causes. Currently LADAs and similar often appear in the 15% of not overweight T2s and the vital data is lost.

I completely agree Ian. My GP surgery refused to list me as type 1/LADA because I wasn't on insulin and they said it would "affect the system" but my consultant wasn't happy as he had diagnosed me with LADA and had the autoimmune test results done so he contacted them and told them to change it. They had me down as type 2! If the stats are wrong then how are we supposed to justify research and funding etc? I fully believe everyone diagnosed with diabetes should have the full blood tests done, therefore there can be no mistake on whether the diabetes is autoimmune or not and a long term prognosis can be given more accurately.

You can be overweight and get a LADA diagnosis. I am overweight and got a LADA diagnosis immediately due to high BGL, ketones in urine when presenting to GP, went to hospital next day and had GAD and C-peptide tests.
From the people I see at my clinic the ones with LADA diagnoses tend to be those with type 1 who are also overweight. Personally I think I'm a straight Type 1 as there was nothing slow onset about my diabetes and had no honeymoon period as such. Not sure what the level of GAD antibodies were but they were very high as Endo whistled and raised eyebrows at the number of them.

Daibell said:

If the NHS can improve the understanding of LADA etc then with the better data that results it might be easier for researchers to separate out the causes. Currently LADAs and similar often appear in the 15% of not overweight T2s and the vital data is lost.

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I've not read the whole of this thread yet, so apologies if this isn't relevant, but I received a letter last week asking me to give some blood for a clinical trial into the genetic causes of LADA. So a) they've started recognising LADA as distinct from Type 1 and b) they're actively researching the cause.

Smidge

I have been diagnosed with four different types of diabetes at different times, and still no one can agree. Whenever I see a new consultant I 'challenge' them to diagnose me. Most aren't sure. I believe I have MODY due to a strong family history (mother, brother), getting it as a teen but it came on slowly not fast so unlikely to be T1. I was on meds for 8 years before being put on to insulin, my pancreatic function is low so I'm not producing much of my own insulin and until I put on a lot of weight in two pregnancies, was not particularly insulin resistant but after I was (double diabetes?)

However despite being seen in the MODY clinic at one hospital, when I moved areas the new hospital said I was t2 and the gp said I was t1 (fine by me means I get my test strips without begging for them). Another doctor thought I had LADA but I don't think that is correct.

I believe there are many different types of diabetes, and the doctors are only just realising this. My understanding of MODY is that my pancreas could function, but the gene that sends the message to the pancreas to produce insulin is faulty so the message does not get through. I could be wrong, i'm not a doctor and I'm not even sure the doctors know how it all works.