Type 2 What is LADA

Montana

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Recently I've heard about LADA and the fact that sometimes diabetes can be misdiagnosed. Please explain LADA to me and how it is diagnosed Thank you:confused:
 

novorapidboi26

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Simply, its like type 1 but on a much slower scale.........

so the beta cells are being destroyed slower, which can give type 2 symptoms as well..........

quite tricky to manage I believe.......

I think it should be straight forward enough to diagnose with the right tests, but its a postcode lottery as to whether you get the right care from the local doctors/hospitals.......

you would need to test for signs of the beta cell destruction, the name of the test I cant recall.......
 

Daibell

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Hi. There is a forum for just LADA T1.5 in the forum list which may help. Basically T1 can come on at any time from birth to your 90s. Most commonly it is in the early years. T1 can result from a range of causes but most commonly it is caused by anti-bodies which attack the islet cells. When T1 occurs in, say, your 20s onwards it will be classed as LADA (Latent Auto-immune Diabetes in Adults) but the causes are similar. T1 or T1.5 can appear very quickly or slowly and this is where mis-diagnosis can occur. The establishment is stuck in a time-warp where it tends to recognise only T1 at a very early age or T2 at any time. Quite a few LADAs (I'm one) will be mis-diagnosed as T2 by default due to age. There are tests for the anti-bodies such as GAD but there are rarer anti-bodies which aren't tested for normally. The other test given is the c-peptide which measures the amount of insulin being produced. In a T1/T1.5 it will be low. In aT2 it will be high. Note that viruses, pancreatitis and so on can result in T1.5 where typically only the c-peptide will show a result as there are no anti-bodies. Treatment will be diet, tablets and then thru to insulin when needed.
 
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Lazybones

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I recently posted a reply in this same secton "Trying to understand the Science of Exercise" which included the following as part of the posting. This might be of intrest.

Type 1.5 - Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA)Usually associated with older adults, Type 1.5 diabetes can be extremely difficult to diagnose and is frequently miss-diagnosed as being Type 2 diabetes. Latent Autoimmune Diabetes (LADA) is the principle name used to describe this particular subset though other names are sometimes coined. A typical diabetic in this specific group would have been someone who initially had diabetes of another type (usually Type 2), who’s general appearance is not considered to be overweight and also who, over a period of several years will have gone on to developed increased insulin resistance. Appropriate blood tests would show a range of antibodies (particularly GAD 65 antibodies) within their bloodstream, which are known to attack the beta cells of the pancreas resulting in a lowering or absence of pancreatic insulin production.

Type 1.5 diabetes is also referred to as ‘Slow Onset Type 1 diabetes’ which describes this diabetic condition much better than ‘Latent Autoimmune Diabetes’ but unfortunately further confusion has resulted as Type 1.5 diabetes has also been incorrectly referred to as being ‘Type 3’ diabetes or ‘Double diabetes’.


Several other members have also added further to this initial posting so it might be worth while looking through the replies.
 

phoenix

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LADA stands for Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults It is by definition an autoimmune condition so is a subset of t1. It that develops a bit more slowly than is usual in younger people (although there are researchers to have described LADY latent autoimmune diabetes of the young in children)
If diagnosed early people with LADA achieve control with diet or non-insulin antidiabetic medication for at least 3-6 months whereas the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes normally requires immediate treatment with insulin. However, the autoimmune 'attack' on the beta cells continues until the person needs insulin to prevent DKA. Eighty per cent of people with LADA have been found to need insulin within 5 years of first presentation.
The most common antibody is antiGAD and most people with LADA test positive for that but there are a number of other antibodies that have been found. People with high amounts of the antibodies tend to need insulin quicker than others.
It's hard for a GP to differentiate between a person with LADA and with T2, particularly if they are thin.
One group of researchers found this short list to be helpful (though it hasn't been tested outside Australia.

  1. manifestation of diabetes below age 50 years;
  2. Acute symptoms at diagnosis;
  3. Body mass index <25kg/m2;
  4. Positive personal history of autoimmune disease;
  5. Positive family history for autoimmune diseases.
If 2 or more of these criteria were satisfied they found that the person had LADA in 71% of cases. (so some had T2) However, they found no cases of LADA in those that had 1 or less of the criteria.

Recently gene sequencing has found that people with LADA have similar gene sequences in the region associated with 'normal/ T1 but this field is in it's infancy
Lastly there are probably far more people in Europe with LADA than with 'traditional' T1.(90% of people with D have T2 but in Europe 10% of them may have LADA) Outside Europe the figures (as far as they go) differ from 0% in Alaska and Papua New Guinea to 20% in Indonesia..
 
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