type 1 often misdiagnosed

[Guest guest]

This article originally posted May 5, 2009 and appeared in

Issue 467

One-Third of all Type 1 Cases are Misdiagnosed: New Study

A THIRD of all Type 1 diabetics were initially misdiagnosed as having the

more common Type 2 or some other illness, a study shows, and it's a mistake

that

can be deadly...

People with the rarer form of diabetes produce no insulin at all, meaning

they need daily injections and not the less intensive treatments for those

with

diabetes Type 2.

" It's a 24 to 48-hour process where your body can operate with no insulin

before you go into a coma and die, " says Kate Gilbert, president of The Type

1

Diabetes Network in Australia who also has the condition.

This error has not been looked at in the U.S. as it probably also occurs

more often then we think.

" When you have Type 2 diabetes it is different ... you are still producing

insulin but maybe it is not quite enough or it is not working so well. "

The support group conducted a poll of more than 850 Australians with Type 1

diabetes and it found a third were misdiagnosed when they first started

feeling

related symptoms including fatigue, weight loss and blurred vision.

One in 10 in the study reported having a blackout before they were correctly

diagnosed, while five percent fell into a diabetic coma.

Of those who were misdiagnosed, 65 percent had to go back to their

healthcare professional three or more times before this was corrected.

Ms. Gilbert puts this down to two key factors - the rarity of Type 1

compared to Type 2 diabetes and also a " myth " surrounding its onset.

Type 1 diabetes is relatively rare compared to Type 2 diabetes and GPs don't

see a lot of it. It's also because Type 1 diabetes used to be called

juvenile

diabetes ... there is still this myth that it is a childhood disease and if

you get diabetes as an adult it must be Type 2. "

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease which switches off insulin

production, and while sufferers are born with the genetic fault in half of

all cases

it is not triggered until adulthood.

Type 2 diabetes is caused by lifestyle issues such as obesity, and in many

cases the sufferer still produces enough insulin but they need drugs to help

the body process it correctly.

" Don't rule out Type 1 just because a person is an adult, " Ms. Gilbert says

in a message to GPs.

The study was conducted to mark the five-year anniversary of The Type 1

Diabetes Network's Starter Kit, a support pack for sufferers developed

though a

Federal grant and now supported by Abbott Diabetes Care.