Remember that the information presented here is not intended to replace the care of your own doctor. Before making any changes in the management of
your own illness, you should consult your physician or other qualified medical professionals.
Question
I've been trying to investigate
LADA
for the last few days because I hope to be tested soon.
Two points really confuse me:
-
Do those with LADA really have a lower incidence of heart disease than people with "regular"
type 2 diabetes?
-
Does trying to save
beta cells
by switching immediately to insulin treatment for someone with LADA make any difference in the long-term?
Answer
LADA (latent autoimmune diabetes in adults) is a less-frequent type of diabetes that may initially appear to be type 2 diabetes
but has demonstrable
antibody
levels, and hence is more accurately described as a variant of
type 1
diabetes
that develops slowly in adults. To answer your questions:
- According to
one review of the subject,
"Overall, LADA carries a risk for cardiovascular disease similar to that of type 2 diabetes."
-
Using insulin early is a good idea for both LADA and type 2 diabetes for the same reason: it "may allow the opportunity to preserve beta cell function, which is important for two reasons. First, preservation of beta cell function may avert the inconvenience of insulin injections. Second, studies of patients with type 1 diabetes show that such preservation is associated with better glycemic control and less proliferative
retinopathy."
wwq
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