Not just 2, diabetes has 5 different groups

People suffering from diabetes can be divided into five separate groups, not just two, as commonly thought, says a new study. Diabetes is currently divided into two major groups - Type-1 diabetes which accounts for around 10 per cent of the cases and Type-2 diabetes which accounts for 85-90 per cent of the cases.

“This is the first step towards personalised treatment of diabetes,” said Leif Groop, Professor at Lund University in Sweden. “Current diagnostics and classification of diabetes are insufficient and unable to predict future complications or choice of treatment,” explained Groop, who initiated the study.

By combining measurements of, for example, insulin resistance, insulin secretion, blood sugar levels and age at onset of illness, the researchers were able to distinguish clusters.

Group 1, the severe autoimmune diabetes, essentially corresponds to Type-1 diabetes and is characterised by onset at young age, poor metabolic control and impaired insulin production.

Group 2, the severe insulindeficient diabetes, includes individuals with impaired insulin secretion and moderate insulin resistance.

Group 3, the severe insulinresistant diabetes is characterised by obesity and severe insulin resistance.

Group 4, the mild obesityrelated diabetes includes obese patients who fall ill at a relatively young age.

Group 5, the mild age-related diabetes is the largest group and consists of the most elderly patients. five distinct