GETTY Scientists have discovered five distinct types of diabetes, offering new hope for better treatments

Type 2 on the other hand can be avoided by making lifestyle changes such as taking more exercise and eating a healthy diet. However, in the new study, researchers found that separating adult-onset diabetes into five distinct different types - rather than just type 1 or type 2 - could help to better tailor early treatment for patients. It would also represent a first step towards precision medicine in the disease, they said. In the new analysis, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal, five types of the disease were found. Each had different characteristics and were associated with different complications, illustrating the varied treatment needs of patients with diabetes. Lead author of the new study Professor Leif Groop, of the Lund University Diabetes Centre (LUDC), Sweden, and Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), said: “Evidence suggests that early treatment for diabetes is crucial to prevent life-shortening complications. “More accurately diagnosing diabetes could give us valuable insights into how it will develop over time, allowing us to predict and treat complications before they develop.

He added: “Existing treatment guidelines are limited by the fact they respond to poor metabolic control when it has developed, but do not have the means to predict which patients will need intensified treatment. “This study moves us towards a more clinically useful diagnosis, and represents an important step towards precision medicine in diabetes. ”Research bodies into the condition in the UK welcomed the “promising” new study. Dr Emily Burns, Head of Research Communications, said: “Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are very different conditions, but we don’t yet know enough about the subtypes that could exist within them. “Finding those subtypes will help us personalise treatments and potentially reduce the risk of diabetes-related complications in the future. “This research takes a promising step toward breaking down Type 2 diabetes in more detail, but we still need to know more about these subtypes before we can understand what this means for people living with the condition. “For example, whether we’d find the same subtypes in people of different ethnicity or nationality."

GETTY Type 1 is an auto-immune disease which cannot currently be cured

This research takes a promising step toward breaking down Type 2 diabetes in more detail, but we still need to know more about these subtypes before we can understand what this means for people living with the condition. Dr Emily Burns

Rates of diabetes are increasing worldwide, faster than for any other disorders, representing a significant cause of ill health worldwide. However, the medical classification of diabetes has not been updated for 20 years and mainly relies on measuring blood glucose levels. While type 1 diabetes is generally diagnosed in childhood and caused by the body not producing enough insulin, type 2 diabetes occurs when the body cannot produce enough insulin to meet the increased demands imposed by obesity and insulin resistance, and typically occurs later in life. Most diagnosed cases of diabetes are type 2 (75-85per cent), and while it is known that type 2 diabetes is highly variable, few attempts have been made to explore these distinctions. The new study used four cohort studies including people over the age of 18 years who had been recently diagnosed with diabetes, totalling 14,775 patients across Sweden and Finland.

GETTY Rates of diabetes are increasing worldwide, faster than for any other disorders

The authors analysed six measurements used to monitor patients with diabetes that reflect key aspects of the disease. They also did genetic analyses, and compared disease progression, treatment, and development of diabetic complications for each type of diabetes. They discovered that there are in fact five different disease profiles were also present in these patients. These types of diabetes were distinct, and included three severe and two mild forms of the disease.Among the severe forms, there was one group with severe insulin resistance and a significantly higher risk of kidney disease than the other types, and a group of relatively young, insulin-deficient individuals with poor metabolic control but no auto-antibodies.

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GETTY Scientists discovered there are five different disease profiles