Brian, after doing some research it looks like MODY research is a real possibility for me. There are 6 identified gene mutations for MODY and possibly more, some are more like type 2, some like type 1. I believe I have MODY - HNF1A or HNF4A, both types have reduced insulin production (according to my c-Peptide results I fit that). The other clue is this statement from Exeter Molecular Genetics Laboratory in the UK:
"Individuals with HNF1A [HNF4A] diabetes are often particularly sensitive to the blood glucose lowering effects of a group of drugs called sulphonylureas. Sulphonylureas"
Also true for me.
One think is for sure, diabetes is a moving target. Thanks Melitta for pointing out the MODY possiblity, I haven't been keeping up with diabetes research since I switched to my current endo and started on insulin therapy.
We do have a group here on Monogenic Diabetes (aka MODY). You may find it helpful to join the group and read through some of the information and start some discussions. There is a particular discussion with a resources on MODY. Jenny at BloodSugar101 also is MODY and says she is sensitive to sulfonylureas.
I've thought that I might be MODY-2 (GCK) for some years but have never convinced a doctor to test me. Most doctors (like Exeter) would recommend a full diagnostic panel for T1 to rule out T1 before investing in panel of MODY tests.
I am definitely going to bring MODY up to my endo. He is older, but spent some time in the research area, and seems interested in learning the latest advances in diabetes. I have always shied away from research, but I am interested in pulling my family in to see if we can shed more light on this disease. Thanks for the recommendation of the group...I'll see you over there.
I also have severe allergies and asthma. I was tested for all kinds of autoimmune disorders last summer because I was not feeling right. I knew I had diabetes, but doctors and I thought it was type 2. After my doctor kept threatening me with insulin injections and my glucose level was not decreasing, I took it upon myself to see an endocrinologist. I had to fill out a scan sheet with just about every symptom/ diagnosis known to man. That is when the endo said he thought it was type 1, or LADA. I think my jaw was on the floor. My diagnosis was confirmed with blood work, and I received my results two weeks later.
Asthma and allergies are not autoimmune. Autoimmune disease occurs when the body attacks its own cells as if they were foreign. Asthma, allergies, and eczema are hypersensitivity and inflammatory reactions to environmental triggers.
"While allergy is due to an inappropriate response to an environmental antigen, autoimmune disease is due to an inappropriate attack triggered by the body's own proteins acting as antigens."
Eric P. Widmaier, Hershell Raff, and Kevin T. Strang, Vander's Human Physiology, 11th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008), p. 675
Well I have seen pathophysiology texts use the term self antigen. But I don’t really agree with calling essential components of your own body as antigens.
Even though allergies are not autoimmune, are they not sort of related? Both are the immune system over-reacting and attacking things it shouldn't, whether those things are located outside your body or are part of it. I've read about theories like the "hygiene hypothesis" and vitamin D and others as a cause for both allergies (and related problems) and autoimmune diseases.
I have Type 1, many allergies (food, seasonal, environmental ... but no medication allergies yet!), and mild asthma and eczema. I'm the only one in my immediate family with any kind of autoimmune condition, although both parents and all my siblings have allergies. On the maternal side of the extended family there are lots of autoimmune conditions, so I can see the connection there (no other Type 1s).
What is known is that if you have one autoimmune disorder, your are more likely to have another disorder. In fact there is a name for it, Autoimmune Polyendocrine Syndrome. The connection between autoimmune disorders and allergies is less clear. There does appear to be some relationship, but an autoimmune reaction that is a reaction to your own body, while an allergy is against foreign antigens. And things can get confusing, Celiac's is a gluten allergy, but because of the autoimmune disorder the reaction goes haywire and it causes the antibodies to attack your own cells. The immune response is a complex activity involving lots of different cells and signaling. In both cases, the reactions don't properly "moderate" and go haywire, perhaps from the same cause.
Celiac disease is not an allergy, it's all autoimmune. I don't know exactly how it works, but I do know that there's no reaction until the gluten hits the person's intestines. An allergy usually has an immediate onset, and if it doesn't, that's an exception.
Also, an allergy can be characterized by its symptoms--celiac never causes anaphylaxis, or hives, or itchy eyes, or anything I'd characterize as an allery symptom. Occasionally allergies can cause intestinal problems, but that happens rarely.
In terms of actual diagnosis, lada / 1.5 are not officially used in the US, you're either type 1 which is always autoimmune and can or can not be hereditary or you're type 2 which is not yet known to be autoimmune and has hereditary, metabolic and other factors involved, or you're gestational, I think this can be type 1 or 2, or mody which is genetic. There may be other types of D I'm unaware of. I call myself type 1 late onset, there is no diabetes in my family that I'm aware of, of any type. There are other autoimmune conditions: graves disease, asthma, rosacea & raynauds, those are the ones I know of. I have asthma, mild raynauds, ocular rosacea and now type 1. type 1 is the worst, the others are mild and do not affect my health in a big way although the occular rosacea/dry eye was very bad a few years ago. I was tested for antibodies and was positive for gad 65 I think, I always get the number confused.
