May 20, 2004
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from California, USA:
My son was diagnosed with diabetes last month. While in the hospital, they checked antibody levels with his initial blood work. These took a week or so to come back, but when they did, they were all normal. They checked for antibodies to insulin, islet cells and one other thing that I don’t remember. With this, the suggestion was made that he may be a MODY, but as I read about that, neither his father nor I have diabetes, only his grandmothers were diagnosed with type 2 in their 70s. He’s quite slender, so is not the typical picture of a type 2, and that hasn’t been suggested. What do you think this may be with obviously some form of diabetes, but normal antibodies?
Answer:
From the age of your son, the likelihood of him having other than type 1 is very slim. Antibodies are usually present, but they are like many tests in medicine: if negative, this doesn’t necessarily exclude the diagnosis which is a clinical one (i.e. based on symptoms, signs and simple lab tests).
KJR
