You might be interested in the book: The Autoimmune Epidemic
I’m reading it now and learning a lot about how all autoimmune diseases are related and some tips for living with autoimmune diseases (vitamin and diet tips, etc). We still know so little about autoimmune diseases. There are some that think that there are many more types of antibodies that can cause diabetes. That might mean that there are many people who are classified as type 2s under the current system that actually have antibodies, just different ones.
I think the more we learn, the more the classification will shift. But knowing if you have autoimmune based diabetes is important, as others have mentioned.
As a type 1 (diagnosed at 21), I am completely insulin deficient and rarely insulin resistant (except during illness and certain points in my monthly cycle). Even though we are all perhaps just somewhere in the space defined by insulin deficiency and insulin resistance, there are some unique struggles associated with complete insulin deficiency, most importantly the threat of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which can put you in a life threatening condition in a matter of hours. That scares me… honestly a lot more than complications do. But that is just my own personal experience.
Another important line of research is looking into what else type 1 diabetics (and probably LADA don’t produce). We are not only deficient in insulin, but also in Amylin (which regulates how our body absorbs carbohydrates-- Symlin is an injectable version of amylin) and c-peptide (which repairs arteries and protects nerves, but it is not available on the market). Insulin, amylin, and c-peptide are produced together in people who produce insulin.
The point is there is a lot to learn! So while I agree that type 1 and type 2 might not always be the best classification-- we don’t know enough to commit to any classification at this point!
You forgot to mention the deficiency in the alpha cells, which secrete glucagon. I consider this as necessary to blood sugar control as insulin. If her alpha cells were still secreting glucagon, no more low blood sugars due to excess of insulin.
It kind of does matter. My niece is Type 1, 12 and her TDD is 40 to 50 units a day. She does not have to watch her weight. A low carb diet won’t help her, although she cannot eat too many carbs at one time. Knowing what combinations of foods spike her blood sugar will. The antibodies that attacked her pancreas have also attacked her thryroid. Those same antibodies can attack other parts of her system. I consider the autoimmune component of her diabetes the most insidious part of her disease. It may also make it very difficult to find a cure, due to the autoimmune process. Autoimmunity is the crux of the issue. Melitta is correct, as far as JD is concerned. But, yes, there are many cross-over types of diabetes. And no type is responsible for their disease. I just have to point out, the post, regarding Juvenile Diabetes or Type 1 is confusing and I don’t think it is accurate.
Kristen -
Thank you so much for the information!! I’ll get that book. I find it all so interesting and I see so many things that don’t quite add up to a quick and simple diagnosis. I think there are many others like myself but they don’t research like I do.
I can understand your DKA fears and hope nothing like that happens to you. All I know is after what may have been a seizure I was afraid to go to sleep for quite some time (it happened at night) but I can’t imagine having these issues to deal with day in and day out. That’s what makes me so upset about diabetes being ‘manageble’ or that commercial for a meter that the guy states ‘diabetes, is that all’… something like that. Every time we allow this to be though of taken care of it’s our loss. Look at AIDS, it is now a ‘manageable’ condition with medication. We hear nothing about it in the news - can’t even remember when I heard anything. Manageable seems to be a very bad word when it comes to looking for a cure.
I did get a small ‘taste’ of what many T1’s have to deal with. I was at my first meeting for Celiacs and many people were speaking of this food or that new on the market. I think it’s wonderful but being diabetic those were foods that were off limits to me. Funny how things are. Here they were so happy that they finally could have a reasonably good pizza with a beer and I was left out of that one… Going through my mind was this is how T1’s must feel when T2’s talk about what they miss when many T1’s didn’t have that option. Lucky for me…I never liked beer so it wasn’t too much to give up! HA
Thanks for your post! I can’t wait until additional labs are more common. I was speaking to one man the other day who also has an autoimmune disease, was never obese, is listed as T2 but he had never had a c-peptide done. Nor had he even hear of it. I listened to what he was doing to try to stay ‘normal’. I almost wished for a flyer to hand him on LADA, at least to educate if only for that reason.
Kathy
so it wasn’t too much to give up! HA