Last Updated on April 24, 2024
Several diabetes organizations have started a collaboration to help diagnose at risk patients earlier. Currently, there is very little that is known about the cause of type 1 diabetes. Although we know the symptoms, most people go years before they are diagnosed as type 1 diabetic. The delayed diagnosis can lead to major health complications, and in some extreme cases, can lead to death.
Right now, we diagnose type 1 diabetes after we begin to notice several symptoms in a person. The JDRF, the Endocrine Society and the American Diabetes Associated have begun a collaboration to detect type 1 diabetes earlier in children. With the combined efforts of the three organizations, they have developed a “three-stage classification system”. This classification system is used to determine the likelihood someone will develop type 1 diabetes. The three-stage test is being utilized in high-risk children with a family history of diabetes.
This three-stage assessment can be thought of as a spectrum or scale to evaluate type 1 diabetes.
Blood Test
The first stage of the test is a blood test that looks for any diabetes associated islet autoantibodies. At this stage, the person wouldn’t have any abnormal glucose levels, which can make detecting diabetes any other way difficult. Having two or more autoantibodies usually manifests in children younger than 5 years old. Children in this stage at the age of 5 were 44% likely to develop type one diabetes, while the number jumps to 70% for children 10 years old.
Glucose Intolerance
The second stage of the diagnosis continues to look for two or more isle autoantibodies but at this stage the disease could have advanced to a type of glucose intolerance. This is the category that could be considered similar to “pre-diabetic” of type 2 diabetes. Anyone over the age of 5 that reaches this stage is almost 100% chance of being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
Signs of Symptoms
The third stage of the test is the point that the person will begin to show the typical symptoms of type 1 diabetes: weight loss, tiredness, etc. Typically this is when the majority of cases of type 1 are diagnosed.
So, what are the benefits of classifying stages of type 1 diabetes? Earlier detection will have significant impact on the type 1 diabetes community. Diagnosing type 1 diabetes early can help reduce the likelihood of having other diabetes related health complications and improve diabetes management. A shared statement from the JDRF and the American Diabetes Association said, the new system will,
“aid the development of therapies and the design of clinical trials to prevent symptomatic disease and promote precision medicine,”
Studies using the classification system showed a reduction in mortality and improved long-term outcomes.
The new classification framework has yet to make a significant impact. Dr. Richard Insel, the chief scientific officer of the JDRF stated,
“Risk screening and staging as outlined here are not recommended at this time for clinical practice in the absence of cost-effective screening, staging, and effective interventions that delay progression to symptomatic type 1 diabetes.”
Type 1 diabetes is a growing disease. 40,000 people are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes every year in the United States. Most people will not see the classification as major development, but for the diabetes community this is another step towards understanding type 1 diabetes. This new way of looking at high-risk children can help to detect their type 1 earlier.
