June 3, 2002
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Palisade, Colorado, USA:
Since she was two, my daughter, diagnosed with type 1 diabetes five months ago, has always been in the 105th percentile for weight and height, and I have always been concerned with her weight. She clearly loved her carbs, and, under direction from her physician, beginning at an early age, we tried very hard to maintain good balance of carbs. I fear that she may not have type 2 diabetes as opposed to type 1 because of her weight.
I asked her diabetes team to see if we should test for type 2, but they say they are sure she has type 1. She lost 17 lbs before she was diagnosed with diabetes and feels good about her body now. Do I need to push the issue to find out which type of diabetes she really has?
Answer:
If your diabetes team has access to checking antibodies, ICA 512 or IA2, GAD 65, and insulin antibodies would be positive about 60-80% of the time in people with type 1 diabetes. However, one can usually tell about type 1 or type 2 diabetes with good clinical observation, although this is not 100%.
You should continue to have some frank discussions with the team. They should be able to explain why they believe one way or the other — and also share what lab information and clinical information makes them say this.
SB
