I guess I would like to know where to go to get more information. My child who is African American was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 3 1/2 half years ago when admitted into hospital with blood sugar of 1165. How do we know whether he had 1a or 1b? When the word Caucasian is offered in a public answer without explanation it sends flags up as to whether the information applies to people of all races.

The distinction between Type�1A and Type�1B diabetes is based on the presence of certain antibodies in the blood at the time of diagnosis. Both groups present in exactly the same way and are initially insulin dependent. In about 50% of cases with Type 1B it is possible to control blood sugars without insulin after a few months and to manage on oral medication or just on diet and exercise. At this time the underlying basic pathology of Type 1B is not understood although a proportion of them appear to be linked to a chromosomal abnormality. In the long term it is thought that even this latter group will again become insulin dependent. You might want your child’s doctor to explain the antibody test to you in a little more detail: the actual test would probably not still be positive even if it had been three years ago. Alternatively you might like to search under ‘antibodies in diabetes’ in PubMed.

DOB