The first or the second?
Scientists told about the main mistake of doctors in the diagnosis of diabetes
Many doctors are mistaken when they consider type one diabetes to be a "childhood disease," according to a study published in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal.
This is how the disease is classified in the instructions for doctors, notes one of the authors of the study, Dr. Richard Oram from the University of Exeter (in a press release, Type 1 diabetes as common in adults as children, but many adults are misdiagnosed - VM). Because of this, doctors, seeing the symptoms of diabetes in an adult, tend to diagnose the second type.
Scientists consider this a misconception that can lead to serious consequences.
"It is surprising that almost half of the diseases with type I diabetes occur already in adulthood and more than 40% – after thirty years. Children and adults suffer from it with the same frequency, but in some cases, the first type can "hide" among a large number of cases of type II diabetes," Oram notes.
Graph from an article in Diabetes & Endocrinology – VM.
According to Professor of molecular medicine Andrew Hattersley, type I diabetes is difficult to diagnose in middle-aged and elderly people. At the same time, the choice of treatment depends on the diagnosis. If in the first type the blood sugar level is controlled by insulin injections, then in the second case insulin is still produced in the body and it is enough to choose a diet and prescribe pills for treatment. In addition, the error can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis – a complication in patients with type I diabetes, which can lead to a fatal outcome with a lack of insulin.
As noted in the study, doctors about ten years ago mistakenly diagnosed British Prime Minister Theresa May with type 2 diabetes. Doctors prescribed her treatment with pills, but this therapy did not bring results.
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