Medical Researchers Re-classify Diabetes Into Five Types

Diabetes patient check blood sugar level
Diabetes patient check blood sugar level

Medical scientists have re-classified diabetes into five different subgroups that should be treated separately, with type 2 diabetes split into four unique subgroups.

Diabetes, which was hitherto split into type 1 and 2, is a metabolic disease where the patient suffers high blood sugar either because insulin production is inadequate (type 1), or because the body’s cells do not respond properly to insulin (type-2).

However, in an article published medical journal –  The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal – on Thursday March 1st, medical researchers claim type 2 diabetes, the most common diabetes among diabetes sufferers, are actually made of five types.

The research team studied 14,775 patients including a detailed analysis of their blood results.

The research outcome split type 2 diabetes into five clusters viz:

  • Cluster 1 – severe autoimmune diabetes (SAID) is broadly the same as the classical type 1 – it hit people when they were young, seemingly healthy and an immune disease left them unable to produce insulin. Around 6–15% of diabetic population suffer from this.
  • Cluster 2 – severe insulin-deficient diabetes (SIDD) patients initially looked very similar to those in cluster 1 – they were young, had a healthy weight and struggled to make insulin, but the immune system was not at fault. This is responsible for 9–20% of diabetes cases.
  • Cluster 3 – severe insulin-resistant diabetes (SIRD) patients were generally overweight and making insulin but their body was no longer responding to it. This affects 11–17% of diabetic patients.
  • Cluster 4 – mild obesity-related diabetes (MORD) was mainly seen in people who were very overweight but metabolically much closer to normal than those in cluster 3. This affects 18–23% of diabetic patients.
  • Cluster 5 – mild age-related diabetes (MARD) patients developed symptoms when they were significantly older than in other groups and their disease tended to be milder. This affects the largest group of diabetic patients; 39–47%.

This new classification, according to the researchers, might eventually help to tailor and target early treatment to patients who would benefit most, thereby representing a first step towards precision medicine in diabetes treatment and management.

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