I'm getting quite confused over what exactly the definition of LADA is... my first idea was that it is a Slow-onset of T1 Diabetes in adults... as the name suggests? But it seems a lot of people get diagnosed LADA even when their diabetes is more acute so to speak.
And similarily, why is it only 'adults' that get this? I was 16 at the time, so technically not a LADA at all. I have found few studies on anyone my age! One on an 11yo.
Hi Liz: Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is commonly defined as (1) age 35 or older, (2) antibody positive (GAD, ICA, and/or IA-2), and (3) not requiring insulin for 6 months after onset. A 2005 article by Fourlanos in Diabetologia defines LADA as (1) adult age at onset of diabetes; (2) the presence of circulating islet autoantibodies, which distinguishes Type 1 diabetes/LADA from type 2 diabetes; and (3) insulin independence at diagnosis. So LADA is slow-onset Type 1 diabetes in adults. I myself had rapid-onset Type 1 diabetes at age 35, and I never say I have LADA because there was nothing latent about the disease and I required exogenous insulin to survive. I think it is a mistake to use the term LADA, and many diabetes researchers agree with that. It is simply Type 1 autoimmune diabetes. Many newly diagnosed T1 children go through a "honeymoon" and don't need exogenous insulin for many months.
There is a lot of variability in the rate of onset of Type 1 diabetes, but few researchers have looked at the variability in teens. Some time back, some creative person, a diabetes researcher, came up with an acronym for slow-onset Type 1 in childhood, but I can't remember the acronym!