There are several 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 - type 1 and 2 - you can often find other types of the disease, which are often strange. For example, it is not entirely clear what is gestational diabetes mellitus during pregnancy or lada diabetes. So what types and other types of diabetes are there?
The main types
More often in the formulation of the diagnosis, the concepts of "diabetes type 1" or "diabetes type 2" can be found. It is this classification that determines the disease according to the body's need for insulin.
Type 1 diabetes is characterized by the destruction of the specialized beta cells of the pancreas responsible for insulin production. This happens most often when a person is exposed to a viral infection, as a result of which the immune system begins to produce "aggressors" for the cells of the glands, 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 to death as they "navigate" towards glucose.
If insulin is introduced into the body from the outside, then the cells will "happily" 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 main points:
- beta cell pathology;
- Violation of sensitivity to insulin by insulin-dependent cells of the body.
This condition develops more often in obese people, as obesity leads to the formation of resistant cells (immunity) to the action of insulin. In addition to obesity, glucose absorption is also affected by smoking, lack of physical activity and taking certain drugs.
Type 3 diabetes
There is type 3 diabetes, which combines signs from type 1 and 2. Namely, accumulation of fatty tissue in the liver (as in type 2 diabetes) and lack of insulin (as in type 1 diabetes). In life, type 2 diabetes that responds positively to insulin therapy is type 3. But this type is not recognized by health organizations, so all cases are divided into types 1 and 2.
This disease is not uncommon. The reason is considered to be the increased absorption of iodine in the intestine as a result of its various pathologies. This leads to type 2 thyrotoxic diabetes with a complex pathogenesis. Treatment with it should be fundamentally different from standard therapy.
hidden form
Latent diabetes mellitus is a condition where glucose from food is absorbed slowly, but insulin production remains normal or elevated. Clinically latent diabetes does not appear. This form precedes type 2 diabetes. It should be said that the hidden variant of diabetes is prediabetes, at this stage it is still possible to influence the state of carbohydrate metabolism.
Latent diabetes can appear for a long time (up to several years). To recognize it in time, you should frequently monitor blood glucose, which is especially important for people with predisposing factors (obesity, hypertension and the use of diuretic drugs that lower potassium levels, polycystic ovary syndrome).
If latent diabetes mellitus is detected at the right time, then, by adhering to simple preventive rules, this form will never turn into type 2 diabetes. To prevent this, you need to increase physical activity, adhere to a diet, to control blood glucose.
Labile and stable
You can also find wording such as "stable and labile diabetes". So they say about diabetes type 1 and type 2. Under these terms we understand the clinical course of the disease.
Labile diabetes is characterized by a rather severe and unpredictable course. It changes dramatically the level of sugar in the blood during the day, which does not allow you to choose the optimal dose of insulin. With this form, acute and late complications occur more often - 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 an immediate drop in sugar, milder symptoms and a low level of hyperglycemia.
pregnant
Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes that develops during pregnancy. Pregnancy, or in lat. gestation is pregnancy. The causes of this type of disease have not been proven with certainty, but the hormones produced by the placenta and the body of the expectant mother lead to physiological resistance to insulin. There are several factors that lead to the development of gestational diabetes. This includes:
- late pregnancy;
- familial diabetes;
- smoking;
- obesity;
- stillbirth in previous pregnancies.
If a woman follows the doctor's instructions, regularly takes tests, then such an unpleasant disease can be avoided. If diabetes has developed, then adequate insulin therapy and hospitalization are prescribed. The patient is monitored by an obstetrician-gynecologist, endocrinologist, internist, ophthalmologist, neurologist. After birth, as a rule, carbohydrate metabolism returns to normal.
It is important to note that gestational diabetes can continue to exist after birth. This diagnosis is valid for 2 months after birth. During this period, a woman should continue treatment, but with an adjustment of insulin doses, which is calculated by the attending doctor or endocrinologist. 2 months after giving birth, a woman undergoes a stress test, which will show if there is a violation of carbohydrate metabolism. If hyperglycemia is observed, the diagnosis is corrected and appropriate treatment is prescribed.
Diabetes Lada
Latent diabetes mellitus, or lada diabetes, is rarely diagnosed because of its latent course. Lada diabetes has features in relation to other forms.
- Laboratory tests do not detect this form. The level of glucose on an empty stomach is usually not elevated.
- The first symptoms of the disease appear after 25 years.
- Pregnancy, stress, infectious diseases, rapid weight gain due to adipose tissue can provoke clinical signs.
- Diabetes Lada most often occurs in people without obesity.
- The symptoms are similar to those of type 2 diabetes, but in a more subtle form.
- Markers of type 1 diabetes can be detected in the patient's blood.
- Lada's diabetes is controlled by diet and taking hypoglycemic drugs.
To determine lada diabetes, specific tests are performed, which will be discussed in an article specifically devoted to this condition.
Diabetes of fashion
Mody diabetes mellitus can rarely be recognized, it is associated with a mutation of certain genes (there are 8 of them). These genes are responsible for the normal structure of insulin or for the optimal development of beta cells. Mody diabetes is characterized as low progressive, which develops in young people (most often children, teenagers).
Among all patients with diabetes, mody diabetes accounts for 2-5% of cases, but the development of the gestational type is associated precisely with genetic mutations. Reliable diagnosis of mody diabetes is possible only with the help of molecular genetic research.
Flow characteristics of this form:
- occurs in children
- sometimes there is an increase in glucose up to 8 mmol / l;
- without obesity;
- no insulin resistance;
- The 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-based drugs or with hypercortisolism (itsenko-Cushing syndrome or disease). Adrenal hormones have a detrimental effect on the beta cells of the pancreas, resulting in a lack of insulin.
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 as a result of the action of corticoids. This diabetes is treated as type 2 diabetes.
Pancreatic
Pancreatic DM is a secondary disease. It develops as a response to the destruction of the pancreas in pancreatitis, stones in the gall bladder and ducts, after operations on the gland. All these factors lead to a decrease in active beta cells and a lack of insulin. It continues as type 1 diabetes.
Other secondary forms
Adrenal, pituitary, 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.