Type 1 My Dr. told me .......

[DiamondAsh]

M y Doctor told me that if I was going to get Type 1 I would've got it by now.. I was 49 at the time. I was pleased but I'm beginning to have my doubts about his statement. Is type 1 peculiar to younger folk? Could I still get it?

My Mom turned Diabetic at 56 year of age but I'm not sure if she is 1 or 2 . I doubt she'd remember herslf now, she gets a bit confused.

 

[phoenix]

Here's what one well known US endocrinologist wrote

"In our clinic, the biggest surprise for our internal medicine residents and our endocrine fellows is how many of our patients are diagnosed after the age of 20. It's a lot. I can't say exactly, but it's easily over a quarter of our type 1 patients who are diagnosed after age 20," said Dr. Hirsch.
The age record at the Seattle clinic is held by a patient who presented at age 92 with newly diagnosed, autoantibody-positive type 1 diabetes and a history of Graves disease and vitiligo

more here: http://www.internalmedicinenews.com...=98&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=15998&cHash=da03e20e36
T1 can develop at any age, Dr Hirsch goes one to describe an Italian study where there

'Among males there were twin peaks in incidence: one at age 10-14, and a second at age 45-49.'

Some people who get T1 as adult have a sudden onset, others a more gradual with a longer time to insulin dependence.
This article explains the difference between T1, T2 and about LADA (the slow onset version of T1) http://www.locallada.swan.ac.uk/faq.html
There is a genetic component to T1 but it is a condition with fairly low heritability (ie even with the genetic predisposition you are far more likely not to get it than to get it)
Unfortunately, T2 has a far greater heritability than T1 but some people (by no means all) can avoid developing it by adopting a healthy and active lifestyle.

 

[Garr]

I was 47.....

 

[mo1905]

I was diagnosed T1 at 47. More common than you think, although the doctors seem oblivious !


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[AnnieC]

I was 47.....

My son was 47 also when he was diagnosed as T1

 

[paul-1976]

I was 35 but I think it had been creeping up for a while on me.

 

[DiamondAsh]

Thanks for all your informative comments. He was a naughty Doctor to mislead me like that. I almost developed a complacent attitude towards my health because of it.

You see, My mom got Diabetes at 56 and so did her father. My dad got it too, nearer 60 years of age. This makes me keen to keep mine in check before I fall by the same wayside. When i see the Disctrict Nurses at Mom's I'm going to ask them what type she has. The paramedic, who attended to her at her hypo episode last month wrote T1 on the form he filled in. I saw it!

oh dear! I really don't want to get T1

 

[Garr]

To be fair, he probably doesn't realise, when I saw my GP again, after the blood test and the hospital stay. He told me that T1 was the last thing he would have thought of due to my age, he had his money on lung cancer ( due to the weight loss). Glad he lost that bet! Reckoned that in 30 years as a doc he had never known someone to get it at that age. Getting more common now I think or maybe it was just never diagnosed before.

 

[DiamondAsh]

Oh I see now.. thanks Gar. I'm glad I asked. I think people are becoming more aware...

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Your GP represents the view of many in the profession and includes Diabetes UK. If you weren't born with T1 then there is a tendency to just assume you are a T2 and if you eventually need to have insulin then the 'T2 will have progressed'. The sad thing is that this messes-up the statistics for research purposes. I was 60 when my diabetes came out of no-where never having been overweight in my life and having been to the gym for a few years. I lost a lot of weight prior to diagnosis from slim to very slim! I was dumped in the T2 group but now on insulin, tablets having eventually failed and fed-up with starving myself. When I queried my diagnosis my DGP said you're not T1 therefore you must be T2. So, there is no age limit and it isn't just anti-bodies that kill the pancreas

 

[Carol11]

I was a sudden onset T1 at 60 after a bout with pneumonia

 

[lostonrye]

I see a Diabetic nurse who is far more knowledgeable than most GPs I was 57 when diagnosed and it can develop at any age.
may as well say well your 40 and have not had a heart attack yet so it's unlikely.
Next time you see said Doc give him a sound thrashing

 

[kendall7]

I hope T1 does not come your way. If you believe your Dr, you may also believe in the tooth fairy. I caught a bad flu, 2 weeks later all the standard signs of T1 arrived ( thirst, constant desire to urinate & then severe weight loss), I was 52 at the time. My endo said his eldest to be diagnosed T1 was 80!

 

[DiamondAsh]

oh my .. so, if I'm getting to grips with my BG levels and keeping them in the safe zone, can that help to stave off T1, as it would with T2, or not. I know I'm high risk and want to do everything in my power to slow the progressions.

 

[LancsCarol]

Diagnosed as type 1 at age 64, and it took another 6 months after the consultant's proven diagnosis for my GP to believe it and stop blaming me for a high BG ...

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[oweri02]

Ask your diabetes nurse/consultant for a test.

As to my history, diagnosed ~35 queried T1/T2 based on age. Consultant said T2, and one day you'll need insulin. I asked "What would you do" and he replied "Insulin now", so I did. Visiting the nurse at my GP surgery, who obviously knows best, said "if you're on insulin you're T1" - I said my consultant said T2, she obviously knew best and CHANGED my diagnosis - I knocked on the doctor's door and he said "he'd sort it"

Several years later, had blood tested by consultant, and HE then changed the diagnosis and T1, and recommended pump therapy. Sadly the omnipod (when tested with saline, for the normal novorapid doses) lasted 18 hours, not the expected 3 days - so given up on that for now... someday I hope though

Good luck, research as much as you can, and NEVER listen to the "Diabetes Police" - you know, those friends, family, colleagues, nurses, doctors, whoever... that obviously know better than us!

 

[DiamondAsh]

Oh ower, what a mishmash of a diagnosis, It's a jungle out there... I will carry on watching my BG levels closely and try to stay healthy and hope that I can stave a possible diagnosis off for as long as possible.

 

[DiamondAsh]

thanks Brian, that was going to be my next question.... a spectrum indeed!

 

[Daibell]

Thanks Brian and this is why I'm so concerned that we may not have anywhere near the true number of T2s that we think we have and that auto-immunity, virus destruction and whatever are more prevalent than thought to be and this affects research; it's a missed opportunity.

 

[DiamondAsh]

Yes it appears to be a continuous spectrum. The beta cells die in the pancreas at differing rates and for different (as yet unknown) reasons: at any age; with clustering of rapid beta cell death at certain ages with particular triggers.

That's what I thought. Thanks Brian... that's why I want to get my BG levels under control (keep them steady) now, whilst I am almost IGT. I see a lot of people are against sugar fullstop! As I tend to have binges on sugary items, that is a bad practice for the body's regulations of sugar.. IMHO. For many years I've felt unwell with sugar overloads and don't want to suffer the detrimental affects of high BG, especially having seen my mom deteriate because of it. I'm testing regularly to get an overall picture and my reaction to certain foods and with the discrepancies among even the professionals, I want to educate myself in this regard.

This forum helps a lot.