In a nutshell
This study aimed to identify adults with latent autoimmune diabetes and to identify characteristics of the disease.
Some background
Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, or LADA, is a rare form of diabetes in which the patient’s own immune system attacks itself, as it does in type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is generally diagnosed in childhood, so LADA patients are often misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Previous studies have characterized LADA at the time of diagnosis. LADA patients had particular immune system messengers in the blood. It was also found that in comparison to patients of other types of diabetes, LADA patients had a lower chance of developing metabolic syndrome (abnormalities associated with the development of cardiovascular disease and diabetes). Finally, LADA patients were found to be more likely to require treatment with insulin. However, these studies have been small in size and short in duration, decreasing the strength of their findings.
Methods & findings
The aim of this study was to characterize LADA in a large sample of patients. 2,425 patients who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes took part in the study. Screening for immune system markers of LADA was carried out. Patients were followed for an average of 3.9 years.
173 patients (out of 2425) tested positive for immune system markers for LADA. LADA patients were significantly younger at diagnosis (51.5 years) than type 2 diabetes patients (55.0 years). Among patients who were not being treated with insulin at the start of the study, LADA patients were 3.1 times more likely to be on insulin therapy than type 2 diabetes patients at the end of the study. LADA patients had significantly lower rates of metabolic syndrome (63.6%) compared to patients with type 2 diabetes (80.4%).
The bottom line
The authors concluded that many patients who had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes had LADA. LADA patients were younger at diagnosis and more likely to require insulin therapy than type 2 diabetes patients.
The fine print
2252 patients had type 2 diabetes, while 173 had LADA. The uneven number of patients in each group could have affected results.
What’s next?
Consult your doctor if you if you are concerned that you have latent autoimmune diabetes and may have been misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Published By :
Diabetes Care
Date :
Apr 10, 2014
