Diabetes

Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of Adults

If defined as a type 2 diabetic phenotype combined with islet antibodies, the prevalence of LADA is around 10% among incident situation subjects of diabetes aged 40–75 years (16). A related prevalence is found among non-insulin-requiring patients older than 35 years at diagnosis with phenotypic type 2 diabetes (17). All-cause mortality was improved by 50% for LADA patients matched with individuals without diabetes, corresponding to the outcomes seen for the whole group of adult-onset autoimmune diabetes. In addition, we show that the extra mortality risk pertains to men and women and, in particular, to death from IHD. The reason of LADA is the growth of autoantibodies against pancreatic cells, insulin, or enzymes involved in pancreatic roles. Antibodies affecting the pancreas and its function might influence the way the body answer back to blood sugar.