Hi Julia,

Congratulations on the adoption!

James had a fast onset of diabetes – he just said it took about 5 days from when he started noticing symptoms until he was in hospital.  However, I know that there is another ‘type’ of diabetes which people refer to as type 1.5 or LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults). 

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What is LADA?

Until recently it was thought that there were only two main types of diabetes:

• Type 1, previously called juvenile diabetes, which is an autoimmune condition that most commonly appears in childhood and can only be controlled by insulin injections, and
• Type 2, or what was called mature onset diabetes, which is seen more often in overweight adults in their mid years. However, as the incidence of obesity increases in all age groups, type 2 is now increasingly seen in younger people. In the early stages type 2 can often be controlled by weight loss, diet and exercise, but over time, oral medication in increasing amounts is usually required. Insulin is now being used earlier and more often in type 2 diabetes to try to prevent the side effects of the condition.

However, it is now known that approximately one in ten adults are incorrectly classified as type 2 diabetes. These people have increased levels of glutamic acid decarboxylase antibodies (GAD Ab), an autoimmune marker of an attack on the cells that produce insulin. Eventually this leads to an absolute lack of insulin. It is this insulin deficiency that identifies type 1 diabetes. This late-onset type of type 1 diabetes is known as 'latent autoimmune diabetes of adults', 'slow onset type 1', or 'type 1.5 diabetes'.

Unlike type 2 diabetes, LADA can not be adequately controlled with diet, exercise, oral medication and weight loss. In fact people with LADA often have a lower body mass index than people with type 2 diabetes.

Depending on the aggressiveness of the immune attack on the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas, people with LADA progress to need insulin injections at varying rates. Most will be on insulin within six years of the time of correct diagnosis. However, control in that intervening period is often not ideal. The early introduction of insulin treatment not only provides better control, but may preserve the remaining insulin-secreting cells for longer.  http://www.abc.net.au/health/yourstories/stories/2008/10/27/2329114.htm

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If you want to find out more just do a search for type 1.5 diabetes in google.

Keep us updated

Liz