In adult life, it is possible to get the classic type 1 diabetes, which results in a rapidly forming insulin deficiency, or its more slow-progressing form called LADA. LADA is an abbreviation of Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults. Latent refers to the fact that it takes body longer to lose its ability to produce insulin compared with the traditional type 1 diabetes.
For approximately 10 per cent or one in ten of people who get diabetes as an adult, a blood test exhibits GAD (glutamic acid decarboxylase) antibodies, which are a sign of an autoimmune inflammation of the beta cells of the pancreas. GAD antibodies are indicative of type 1 diabetes.
The most typical age to get LADA is 40–60. Initially, a person with LADA is able to manage by good lifestyle choices and tablets, and the condition is a kind of intermediate between the main types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. Today, LADA is considered a subgroup of type 1 diabetes.
To begin with, individual may be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes because they get the condition as an adult and do not initially require insulin therapy after the diagnosis. They may also be overweight with high blood pressure or a lipid metabolism disorder, however, this is less common compared to traditional or obesity-related type 2 diabetes.