Free Diabetes Continuing Education Article

What Kinds of Diabetes Are There, and Which Kind Do You Have?

There are actually many different kinds of diabetes. All types of diabetes involve inadequate beta cell function, but some also involve problems with the body responding less effectively to insulin (this is known as insulin resistance). The ADA has categorized the different kinds of diabetes into four main groups:
Type 1 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes
Other specifi c types of diabetes
Gestational diabetes

TYPE 1 DIABETES
In type 1 diabetes (formerly referred to as juvenile onset diabetes or insulindependent diabetes mellitus), a person’s immune system attacks its own beta cells and destroys them. This is known as autoimmune injury. To control the elevated glucose levels, a person with this kind of diabetes has to be treated with insulin injections. Most people with this kind of diabetes are thin.

TYPE 2 DIABETES
Type 2 diabetes (formerly called adult-onset diabetes or non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) is the most common type of diabetes. If you have type 2 diabetes, you are insulin resistant, which means you need more insulin to lower your blood glucose levels. You also have some beta cell loss in your pancreas, but not to the same extent as in type 1 diabetes. Most of the people with this kind of diabetes are overweight or obese.

OTHER TYPES OF DIABETES
There are less common forms of diabetes in which there is a specifi c cause for the beta cell failure or problems with insulin function. Some of these conditions are extremely rare, so I discuss only the more common ones in the following sections.