There are different types and types of diabetes mellitus, each of which has its own characteristics and differences.
Along with the well-known names of the types of diabetes mellitus - types 1 and 2 - you can often find other types of the disease, which are often perplexing. For example, it is not entirely clear what gestational diabetes mellitus during pregnancy or lada diabetes is. So what other types and types of diabetes are there?
Main types
Very often the concepts of "type 1 diabetes" or "type 2 diabetes" can be found in the formulation of the diagnosis. It is this classification that determines the disease based on the body's need for insulin.
Type 1 diabetes is characterized by the destruction of specialized pancreatic beta cells responsible for producing insulin. This happens more often when a person is exposed to a viral infection, as a result of which the immune system begins to produce "aggressors" to the gland cells, which destroy them. As a result, insulin deficiency occurs in the blood. Since cells cannot absorb glucose from the blood without such an important hormone as insulin, they literally starve as they "float" in glucose.
If insulin is introduced into the body from the outside, the cells "with joy" will begin to consume glucose, while the sugar level will normalize. Therefore, type 1 disease is also called insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
When the term "non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus" is mentioned it means type 2 diabetes. Its pathogenesis is based on two key points:
- pathology of beta cells;
- violation of insulin susceptibility by insulin-dependent cells of the body.
This condition develops more often in obese people, as obesity leads to the formation of resistance cells (immunity) to the action of insulin. In addition to obesity, glucose absorption is affected by smoking, lack of physical activity and taking certain medications.
Type 3 diabetes
There is type 3 diabetes, which combines the signs of types 1 and 2. Namely, the accumulation of fatty tissue in the liver (as in type 2 diabetes) and insulin deficiency (as in type 1). In life, type 2 diabetes that responds positively to insulin therapy is type 3. But this type is not recognized by the health organization, so all cases are divided into types 1 and 2.
This disease is not uncommon. The reason is considered to be an increase in the absorption of iodine in the intestine due to its various pathologies. This leads to thyrotoxic type 2 diabetes with complex pathogenesis. Treatment with it should be fundamentally different from standard therapy.
hidden form
Latent diabetes mellitus is a condition in which glucose from food is slowly absorbed, but insulin production remains at an adequate or high level. Clinically latent diabetes does not appear. This form precedes type 2 diabetes. It must be said that the hidden variant of diabetes is pre-diabetes, at this stage it is still possible to influence the state of carbohydrate metabolism.
Latent diabetes can occur for a long time (up to several years). To recognize it in time, it is necessary to monitor blood sugar often, which is especially important for people with predisposing factors (obesity, hypertension and the use of diuretic drugs that reduce potassium levels, polycystic ovary syndrome).
If latent diabetes mellitus is detected in a timely manner, then, adhering to simple rules of prevention, this form will never turn into type 2 diabetes. To avoid this, you should increase physical activity, stick to a diet, check the glycemia.
Labile and stable
You may also find a term like "stable and labile diabetes". So they say both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In these terms we mean the clinical course of the disease.
Labile diabetes is characterized by a rather severe and unpredictable course. It drastically changes the blood sugar level during the day, which does not allow you to choose the optimal dose of insulin. With this form, acute and late complications most often occur: ketoacidosis, disorders of the kidneys, organ of vision. The labile form is characteristic of adolescence.
The stable form is characterized by a uniform course without sudden drops in sugar, milder symptoms, and a low level of hyperglycemia.
Gestational
Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that develops during pregnancy. Gestation, or in Lat. gestatio is pregnancy. The causes of this type of disease have not been reliably established, but the hormones produced by the placenta and the body of the expectant mother lead to physiological insulin resistance. There are some factors that lead to the development of gestational diabetes. These include:
- late pregnancy;
- familial diabetes;
- to smoke;
- obesity;
- stillbirths in previous pregnancies.
If a woman follows the doctor's instructions, she regularly carries out tests, it is possible to avoid such an unpleasant disease. If diabetes has developed, adequate insulin therapy and hospitalization are prescribed. The patient is monitored by an obstetrician-gynecologist, endocrinologist, internist, ophthalmologist, neurologist. After childbirth, as a rule, carbohydrate metabolism returns to normal.
It is important to note that gestational diabetes can continue to exist after delivery. This diagnosis is valid for 2 months after birth. During this period, a woman must continue treatment, but with an adjustment in insulin doses, which is calculated by the attending physician or endocrinologist. 2 months after childbirth, a woman is subjected to a stress test, which will indicate whether there is a violation of carbohydrate metabolism. If hyperglycemia is noted, the diagnosis is corrected and appropriate treatment is prescribed.
Lada's diabetes
Latent diabetes mellitus, or diabetes lada, is rarely diagnosed due to its latent course. Lada's diabetes has features in relation to other forms.
- Laboratory tests do not reveal this form. The level of glucose on an empty stomach is very often not high.
- The first symptoms of the disease appear after 25 years.
- Pregnancy, stress, infectious diseases, rapid weight gain due to adipose tissue can cause clinical signs.
- Lada diabetes occurs most often in people without obesity.
- Symptoms are similar to those of type 2 diabetes, but in a more subtle form.
- Type 1 diabetes markers can be detected in the patient's blood.
- Lada's diabetes is controlled by diet and the intake of hypoglycemic drugs.
Specific tests are carried out to determine lada diabetes, which will be discussed in an article dedicated specifically to this condition.
Diabetes Mod
Diabetes mellitus is rarely recognized, it is associated with a mutation of some genes (there are 8 of them). These genes are responsible for the normal structure of insulin or the optimal development of beta cells. Mody diabetes is characterized as low progression, which develops in young people (more often children, adolescents).
Among all patients with diabetes, mody diabetes accounts for 2-5% of cases, but the development of the gestational type is associated with genetic mutations. Reliably diagnosing diabetes mody is possible only with the help of molecular genetic research.
Flow characteristics of this module:
- occurs in children
- sometimes there is an increase in glucose up to 8 mmol / l;
- no obesity;
- there is no insulin resistance;
- SD is available in two generations;
- The course is similar to that of type 2 diabetes.
steroid diabetes
Steroid diabetes develops with prolonged use of corticosteroid drugs or with hypercortisolism (Itsenko-Cushing syndrome or disease). Adrenal hormones have a detrimental effect on the beta cells of the pancreas, resulting in insulin deficiency.
Steroid diabetes mellitus is an insulin-dependent condition. But its clinical course includes some features of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In addition, there is a violation of the work of other organs due to the action of corticosteroids. This diabetes is treated as type 2 diabetes.
pancreatic
Pancreatic DM is a secondary disease. It develops in response to the destruction of the pancreas in pancreatitis, stones in the gallbladder and ducts, after operations on the gland. All these factors lead to a decrease in active beta cells and insulin deficiency. It proceeds like type 1 diabetes.
Other secondary forms
Adrenal, pituitary and thyroid diabetes occurs against the background of an excessive amount of certain hormones in the blood, which leads to the destruction of insulin-producing cells. The clinic is similar to type 1 diabetes with symptoms of damage to other organs and tissues.