But another type of diabetes is starting to be recognised – type 1.5 diabetes – and Dr Adrian Vella, an endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, explained to Express.co.uk exactly what this type of diabetes entails.
“Type diabetes 1.5 is not a term that is necessarily scientifically accurate but reflects the fact that diabetes is a disease diagnosed on the basis of blood sugars which are elevated and the underlying pathogenesis is sometimes uncertain,” he said.
“At the two ends of the spectrum there is type 1 diabetes which is an immune mediated disorder that destroys insulin secreting beta cells and typically but not always occurs in childhood and adolescents whereas type 2 diabetes usually arises in the context of obesity and most affected patients are middle-aged.
“However there are patients with a not fit into this ill-defined dichotomy and often present in early to mid-adulthood, may not necessarily be obese and require insulin relatively early in the course of their disease.
READ MORE: Type 2 diabetes: Eating this superfood could help fight the condition
