Scientists Argue There are More than Just Two Types of Diabetes
Researchers from Lund University Centre in Sweden and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland believe they’ve found at least five clusters of diabetes, rather than the traditional two categories that most medics are likely to acknowledge or diagnose. Each cluster has its own set of risks, symptoms, and causes, IFLScience.com reported.
Group 1: Severe autoimmune diabetes (SAID)
- affects otherwise healthy people from a young age
- body in unable to produce insulin
Group 2: Severe insulin-deficient diabetes (SIID)
- affects otherwise healthy people from a young age
- immune system is not the cause
Group 3: Severe insulin-resistant diabetes (SIRD)
- affects overweight people
- sufferers have built up severe insulin resistance
Group 4: Mild obesity-related diabetes (MORD)
- affects overweight people
- develops earlier in life
- can be managed with lifestyle changes and metformin
Group 5: Mild age-related diabetes (MARD)
- affects the elderly
- can be managed with lifestyle changes and metformin
- is the largest of the 5 groups
“This is the first step towards personalized treatment of diabetes,” team leader Leif Groop, professor of diabetes and endocrinology at Lund University, said in a statement. “Current diagnostics and classification of diabetes are insufficient and unable to predict future complications or choice of treatment.” The team hopes this new research will help health care providers and patients better manage the disease and be more aware of possible complications.
Read more about the study here.
