HealthCentral: Why It’s Important to Know the Stages of Type 1 Diabetes
HealthCentral recently interviewed Cedars-Sinai physicians Roma Gianchandani, MD, medical director of Diabetes Quality and vice chair of Quality and Innovation, and Bahareh Schweiger, DO, MPH, director of Pediatric Endocrinology, about the three stages of Type 1 diabetes and why early diagnosis is important.
Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune condition in which the body doesn’t produce enough insulin, typically develops in childhood. It increases the level of sugar—also called glucose—in the blood. There is no cure, but early detection can help slow progression and reduce the risk of serious complications.
Gianchandani told HealthCentral that symptoms, such as excessive thirst, frequent urination and extreme fatigue, are not yet present in the preclinical (first) stage of the disease.
“The blood glucose is normal in stage 1, but autoantibodies to the beta cell can be detected,” said Gianchandani, referring to the immune system antibodies that attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
In stage 2, she said, blood tests will indicate abnormalities in glucose levels even though patients still are not experiencing symptoms.
Most patients are diagnosed at stage 3, when they have symptoms, but Schweiger told HealthCentral that earlier detection is optimal.
“Diagnosing type 1 diabetes in its earliest stages, particularly during stage 1, when autoantibodies are present, but blood sugar levels are still normal, offers several important benefits for pediatric patients,” Schweiger said.
Those benefits include medication, which can delay progression by about two years and reduce the risk of potentially deadly complications.
Schweiger told HealthCentral that testing for early-stage Type 1 diabetes is recommended for children with a family history of the disease, people with certain genetic markers and people with some autoimmune conditions.
“Genetic testing, in combination with autoantibody screening, can help identify children at risk,” she said.
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