Deep dive into the 5 Diabetes Sub Groups

425 million.

That’s the number of people around the world who are suffering from diabetes today. And this number is expected to shoot up to a whopping 629 million by 2045!

Here’s another important fact.

How is diabetics categorized presently ?

Not all diabetics suffer from the same version of the disease.

Some forms occur due to faulty insulin production. Others occur due to a combination of gene mutation and environmental factors.

In fact, statistics show:

10% suffer from Type 1 diabetes

85-90% from Type II diabetes and various other less common diseases such as LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) and MODY (Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young).

However, researchers from The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology say this segregation needs to be more accurate and have suggested a new set of subgroups.

Are the current diagnostics and diabetes classification insufficient?

Yes, say experts. As they may:

Lead to incorrect treatment: administering the same dosage of medicines to all diabetics whether they need it or not may create complications in the future.

Cause health complications: Whether its amputation, loss of vision, kidney failure or any such health complication . Each is a very real scary health scenario for diabetics.

Which are the new 5 diabetes sub groups?

Group 1: SAID (Severe autoimmune diabetes) comprises of Type 1 diabetics, LADA

Symptoms: 

Onset at a young age

Poor metabolic control

Weakened insulin production

Presence of GAD antibodies :  Pancreas need GAD to function normally antibodies that target this enzyme are called GAD antibodies and about 70% of Type 1 diabetes sufferers have GAD antibodies in their blood.

Group 2 : SIDD (Severe Insulin Deficient diabetes) comprises of individuals from HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin), moderate insulin resistance (where muscle, fat and liver cells do not respond properly to insulin and therefore cannot absorb glucose form the bloodstream).

Symptoms :

High incidence of Retinopathy (damage to the retina of the eyes, which may lead to vision loss as well)

Group 3 : SIRD ( Severe insulin resistant diabetes)

Symptoms:

Sufferers are obese

Severe insulin resistance

Highest incidence of kidney damage

Group 4 : MOD (Mild obesity related diabetes): characterized by obese patients who fall ill at a young age

Group 5 : (Mild age related diabetes) : has the largest collection of about 40% and consists of the most elderly patients