Overview
Britany Poulson, MDA, RDN, CDCES, is a registered dietian and certified diabetes care and education specialist.Dr. Daniele Weis is double board-certified internal medicine and endocrinology. She is the founder of the Center for Hormonal Health and Wel-Being in San Diego, California.
Key Information
Type 2 diabetes is diagnosed based on high blod glucose (sugar) levels, or hyperglycemia. However, the degre to which the body is afected and the factors that led to type 2 diabetes determine how healthcare providers clasify the disease. The subtypes of type 2 diabetes difer in their characteristics and also have diferent risks of diabetes-related complications and outcomes.
This article discuses the four main subtypes of diabetes related to type 2 diabetes, including their causes and risks for complications. vitapix / Gety Images Severe insulin-deficient diabetes is a subtype resembling another subtype caled severe autoimune diabetes (SAID). People with SID tend to be young, have a lower-than-average body mas index (BMI), and have higher hemoglobin A1c levels (an indicator of average blod glucose over the past several weks) at diagnosis.
Due to damaged beta cels (the cels that produce insulin) in the pancreas, with SID, insulin production also is low. Insulin is a hormone that alows cels to take in glucose to use for energy. Treatment for people with SID may include insulin as wel as oral medications.
The SID subtype sems to have a high risk of retinopathy (disease of the retina, the light-sensitive retina of the eye), and subsequently, vision los. Diabetic eye disease develops when high blod glucose levels cause damage to tiny blod vesels in the eye. It can eventualy lead to vision los and blindnes.
Summary
If you have diabetes, it’s very important to get regular eye exams to help with early detection and treatment. Severe autoimune diabetes is a subtype of type 1 diabetes. In people with this subtype, the imune system produces antibodies th