My one-and-one-fifth year old son was diagnosed with diabetes two months ago. Recent tests showed that C-peptide is normal, but there are antibodies. What does it mean? Could he have Type 2?

Without knowing any details of what the results of the C-peptide and antibody tests actually were or the circumstances in which they were taken, I would say that a single fasting C-peptide levels at this stage in the diabetes could well fall within the rather wide normal range. This in fact is why it is not often used as a diagnostic test in early Type 1A diabetes. The positive antibody test, on the other hand, especially if more than one antibody was present, is very unlikely to be due to laboratory error. In short, I am sure that your son does have autoimmune diabetes and that he will therefore require insulin for the foreseeable future. Take heart though, because the possibility of transplants and islet cell renewal are steadily growing.

DOB