When you hear about diabetes, you probably mostly hear it being divided into type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder that can appear early in life, whereas type 2 tends to develop later. You may occasionally hear about gestational diabetes, which is unique to pregnancy. But did you know there are actually several other kinds?
These other types of diabetes are particularly rare. As a proportion of overall diabetes cases, they make up 2%, or maybe even less. It’s no wonder they’re not particularly well-known, but it could still be useful for you to be aware they exist.
Maturity onset diabetes of the young is often just shortened to MODY. You may also hear it called monogenic diabetes because it’s caused by a mutated gene. As a genetic condition, it can quite often be shared between close family members. MODY doesn’t always have noticeable symptoms, and when it does, it may be diagnosed as type 1 or type 2 depending on factors like age and lifestyle.
Neonatal diabetes, as you may guess from the name, affects only the very young. Generally, it shows up in babies who are younger than six months. Sometimes, it will be mistaken for type 1, although that usually shows in older children.
The symptoms of Wolfram Syndrome can be remembered because of an acronym: DIDMOAD (diabetes insipidus, diabetes mellitus, optic atrophy, and deafness). It’s a genetic disorder that tends to show up in childhood. Alström syndrome is another genetic disorder with childhood symptoms including diabetes.
There are actually several conditions with which diabetes can be associated, including pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. These all damage the pancreas, which is the organ that produces insulin. Diabetes from pancreatic disease is known as type 3c. Diabetes can also occur in relation to cystic fibrosis.
Latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is a bit of a funny one because it shares traits of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. It’s not always recognized as a subtype, and as one of the newer discoveries, there’s still lots of research to be done into how it all works.
Even this isn’t a comprehensive guide to every type of diabetes we know. For example, sometimes you can develop a temporary form of diabetes because of steroid use. What you need to know is that diabetes is more complex than it’s generally represented.
