Can Type 2 Diabetes Turn into Type 1 Diabetes?
Although certain studies indicate that type 2 diabetes can turn into type 1 diabetes with time, there are, however, other types of research which suggest that the same is not possible. In this article, we shall try to understand both aspects of the research and also throw some light on the Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults or the LADA which is also called type 1.5 diabetes.
So, come and join in for the article “Can Type 2 Diabetes Turn into Type 1 Diabetes?”
Is it Possible for Type 2 Diabetes to Get Converted into Type 1 Diabetes?
Well, some of the recent research conducted by the researchers in different parts of the world has left a few experts to wonder whether type 2 diabetes patients can slowly progress into type 1 diabetes patients. In order to understand the same, we should first consider the following:
- Type 1 diabetes is known to be an autoimmune disorder in which the beta cells of the insulin-producing pancreas suffer damage. Hence, your body is unable to produce the much-needed hormone, insulin. In type 2 diabetes, however, the pancreatic beta cells continue to work and insulin is produced by the organ. However, due to various factors, the body fails to effectively utilize this insulin so produced.
- Besides, type 1 diabetes is also known as juvenile diabetes because it is found in children, while type 2 is majorly contracted by the adults
When you consider the above two factors, you will know that type 2 diabetes cannot turn into type 1 condition. However, if you research on the topic further, you will realize that experts have slowly started to term even type 2 diabetes as an autoimmune condition. Besides, according to a recent study conducted by the diabetes experts in Japan, the conversion of type 2 into type 1 is indeed a possibility. As per this study, it is believed that after about 7.7 months of administering insulin into the body of a type 2 diabetes patients, type 2 might get converted into type 1 diabetes.
However, yet other studies conducted by a few experts suggest that a few individuals neither have type 1 nor type 2 diabetes. They fall somewhere in between and might have what is known as the Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults or the LADA. LADA is also slowly growing to be called 1.5 diabetes.
What is LADA and Why is it Often Confused with Type 2 Diabetes?
It has been estimated that around 14 percent of the people who actually are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes actually suffer from the Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults. Some of the features of LADA which might result in it being misdiagnosed as type 2 diabetes include the following:
- It gradually sets in and it is difficult to trace its arrival
- It usually affects you during adulthood
- You experience resistance to the hormone insulin
- It initially is managed by using oral drugs and medicines. However, after a certain period of time, there is a growing need to take insulin.
- They have positive antibodies in them
As seen above. Some of the aspects of the newly discovered LADA have a resemblance to type 2 diabetes.
Even the following symptoms of the condition is same as those found in type 2 diabetes:
- Excessive thirst, hunger, and urination
- Feeling tired and fatigued
- Blurred vision
- Dryness and itchiness of the skin
- High levels of glucose both in the blood as well as the urine
- Numbness caused in hands and feet particularly
- Urinary tract and yeast infections
When you have LADA, you have all the symptoms and signs of type 2 diabetes. After a particular point of time, LADA patients require growing amounts of insulin to manage their condition effectively, just like a type 1 diabetic patient will require.
Thus, to conclude, there are studies that are still going on to research the possibility of type 2 diabetes getting converted into type 1 diabetes. For the time being, what the experts really know for certain is the fact that type 2 diabetes is often misdiagnosed when actually you might be suffering from what has now been termed as type 1.5 diabetes or the above-mentioned LADA. When you have a normal weight and also a family history of immunity-related diseases, it is likely that you do have LADA instead of type 2 diabetes.
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