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Scientists have proposed a new classification of diabetes by considering that there are five different forms of diabetes and not two as currently accepted, which they believe can help to refine treatments.
Currently, this disorder of sugar assimilation by the body is classified into two categories. Type 1 diabetes (about 10% of cases), which most often occurs suddenly in children or young adults, is characterized by insufficient insulin production. This hormone secreted by the pancreas helps to maintain a balanced blood glucose level. Type 2 diabetes (nearly 90% of cases) corresponds to a prolonged increase in blood sugar levels, often associated with obesity and lifestyles (sedentary lifestyle, unbalanced diet).
Three severe, two more benign
The authors of a Swedish study that has just been published in the specialist journal Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology propose to refine this classification by introducing five categories, three severe and two more benign.
To arrive at these five categories, the researchers examined data from 13,720 patients since 2008, including their insulin production, blood sugar levels and the age at which the disease appeared. The first of these five new categories is type 1 diabetes. The other four are subdivisions of type 2 diabetes, each with its own specific characteristics.
One of them is characterized by a higher risk of retinopathy (retinal disease affecting nearly 50% of patients with type 2 diabetes). Another is in obese patients and is characterized by high insulin resistance, with a high risk of renal damage. The last two categories, less severe, include obese patients who develop the disease at an early age for the first, and older patients for the second (the largest group, about 40% of patients).
