Other Diabetes

Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are the most common but there are some other rarer types of diabetes, these include Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA); Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY); Neonatal Diabetes and Steroid Induced Diabetes.

LADA has similarities to both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, so it’s sometimes referred to as type 1 ½ diabetes. It’s similar to type 1 diabetes in that your body’s immune system attacks the cells that produce insulin, but it develops more gradually, which is similar to type 2.

MODY is a rare form of diabetes and caused by a mutation, or change, in a single gene which means it runs strongly in families usually affecting someone in each generation with a 1 in 2 chance of an affected person passing the condition to an offspring. There are several different types of MODY so a genetic test will need to be carried out to determine what type it is.

Neonatal diabetes usually occurs in the first 6 months of life and is different from type 1 as it’s not caused by the body attacking its own insulin-producing cells. It’s usually caused by a change in a gene which affects the production of insulin.

Steroid-induced diabetes is caused by taking steroids, which may be prescribed to reduce inflammation in the body or to treat conditions like arthritis, COPD (lung disease), or polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR)). Steroids increase insulin resistance which raises blood glucose levels.

If you have any of these types of diabetes, you will still be under the care of your local diabetes team so will receive the same check-up appointments to monitor your blood glucose levels, eyes, kidneys, heart, legs and feet.