In the future, diabetes should not only be divided into types 1 and 2, but into five subtypes – each with its own therapies, according to researchers at the German Diabetes Center in Düsseldorf. They have developed a tool to be able to assign the types.
For a “precision diabetology”, a tailor-made management of people with diabetes depending on the assignment to one of the five new diabetes subtypes is being researched. So far, however, there are only approaches to a specific treatment depending on the subtype. Another goal is to be able to identify the risk of developing specific diabetes-related diseases and complications at an early stage, depending on the subtype.
The researchers identified the following five defined subtypes:
Subtyp 1: Severe autoimmune diabetes (SAID) essentially corresponds to type 1 diabetes.
Subtyp 2: Severe insulin-deficient diabetes (SIDD) is similar in characteristics to SAID, but lacks diabetes-associated antibodies.
Subtyp 3: Severe insulin-resistant diabetes (SIRD) is characterized by pronounced insulin resistance and obesity.
Subtyp 4: Mild obesity-related diabetes (MOD) is usually characterized by being overweight, which is accompanied by reduced insulin resistance.
Subtyp 5: Mild age-related diabetes (MARD) is characterized by a later onset of the disease with a slightly elevated BMI and HbA1c value (long-term glucose value).
