Other Types of Diabetes
Hybrid (or double) diabetes can mean one of two things. In people with type 2 diabetes, it means that the immune system is killing off the body's insulin-producing beta cells, just as happens when someone has type 1 diabetes. In people with type 1 diabetes, it means that they also have elements of insulin resistance usually seen in type 2 diabetes, often as a result of being overweight and unfit. People with double diabetes may take insulin and an insulin-sensitizing oral medication.
LADA, or latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, is diagnosed when people develop type 1 after their teen years. In some cases, these patients are misdiagnosed as having type 2 diabetes. Doctors may mistakenly assume these patients are too old to get type 1 diabetes, and the onset of the disease may be more gradual than it is for younger folks. People with LADA are initially put on oral medications, but rapidly need insulin to control blood sugar levels.
Physician-developed and -monitored.
Original Date of Publication: 23 Apr 2009
Written by: Stacey Colino
Last Reviewed: 05 May 2009
Diabetes (Diabetes Mellitus), Other Types of Diabetes reprinted with permission from
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