THERE’S A NEW TYPE OF DIABETES DOCTORS WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT

• A new scientific paper has a name for a different type of diabetes: type 5 diabetes.
• This form was originally detected in 1955, but has a controversial past.
• Millions of people are likely impacted by type 5 diabetes.

When people talk about diabetes, they’re usually referring to type 2. While this is the most common form of the disease, there are many other types of diabetes. Now, an international diabetes organization is pushing for healthcare providers around the world to recognize a form of an under-the-radar version that was detected in the 1950s. It’s called type 5 diabetes, and it has a controversial past.

Type 5 diabetes was formally classified as malnutrition-related diabetes in 1985 by the World Health Organization (WHO), but it was later removed in 1999 over a disagreement on whether undernutrition could cause this form of diabetes. It’s been called a series of different names, including Type J diabetes (which stands for Jamaica, where it was first diagnosed).

Now, the International Diabetes Federation has adopted the name type 5 diabetes for this disease and launched a working group to develop formal diagnostic criteria for it. In a scientific paper published in The Lancet Global Health, researchers urge the global medical community to recognize this form of diabetes, too.

Meet the experts: David Cutler, M.D., family medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA; Janet O'Mahony, M.D., a Baltimore-area internal medicine doctor at Mercy Medical Center

Type 5 diabetes isn’t a well-known form of the disease, and it’s understandable to have questions about it. Here’s what the research suggests, plus what doctors want you to know.

What is type 5 diabetes?

Type 5 diabetes is a form of diabetes that was originally described in 1955 in people who were lean and young (under age 30). People with type 5 diabetes usually have a history of undernutrition, starting in utero and throughout their childhood.

People with type 5 diabetes have “substantial impairment” of the pancreas’s ability to secrete insulin, which is a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels, according to The Lancet Global Health paper. People with this form of diabetes do not have ketoacidosis, which is a serious condition linked to diabetes that happens when the body produces too many acidic substances called ketones, or islet cell autoantibodies, which target and damage the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin and are a hallmark of type 1 diabetes.

This form of diabetes is believed to impact between 20 to 25 million people around the world, mostly in Asia and Africa, per the International Diabetes Federation. “It’s not something that we see very commonly in this country, but it is generally reported in third-world countries and poverty-stricken areas where people don’t get enough calories or protein in their diet,” says David Cutler, M.D., family medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA.

What are the other forms of diabetes?

There are three main types of diabetes, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK):

• Type 2 diabetes. This is the most common form of diabetes. When you have this form of diabetes, the cells in your body don’t use insulin properly.
• Type 1 diabetes. With type 1 diabetes, the body makes little or no insulin. The immune system also attacks and destroys cells in the pancreas that makes insulin. "It usually occurs in kids, but some adults under 30 can also develop this," says Janet O'Mahony, M.D., a Baltimore-area internal medicine doctor at Mercy Medical Center.
• Gestational diabetes. This form of diabetes develops during pregnancy, and it usually goes away after the baby is born. However, people who have gestational diabetes have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

Recent research has found other less-common forms of diabetes like type 1.5 diabetes and monogenic diabetes, which is caused by a change in a single gene.

Signs and symptoms of type 5 diabetes

People with type 5 diabetes usually have symptoms that are similar to those with type 1 diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation. Those include:

• Weight loss
• Excessive thirst
• Frequent urination
• Fatigue
• Elevated glucose levels

The International Diabetes Federation notes that people with type 5 diabetes usually have a body mass index below 19 and don’t have signs of beta cell destruction, which separates it from type 1 diabetes.

How is type 5 diabetes diagnosed?

The International Diabetes Federation is working to establish diagnostic criteria for type 5 diabetes. So, this is still being explored.

How is type 5 diabetes treated?

That’s still being decided. However, the International Diabetes Federation says that treatment may include these steps:

• Nutritional support to correct long-term undernutrition.
• Oral diabetes medications to stimulate insulin secretion.
• Low-dose insulin therapy, where appropriate.

Again, the particulars here are still being looked into.

What to do if you have symptoms of diabetes

Type 5 diabetes is not common in the U.S., but diabetes—especially type 2 diabetes—is. “Be aware of how common and dangerous this condition is, and do what you can to prevent it from happening,” Dr. Cutler says. That means doing what you can to eat a healthy, low-glycemic diet, maintain a healthy weight, and exercise regularly, he says.

“In most cases, type 2 diabetes will progress gradually and go from pre-diabetes to diabetes over time,” Dr. O’Mahony says. “If you are getting regular screening, it is diagnosed before you get sick. Sometimes it comes on more quickly and can cause symptoms that prompt evaluation at the doctor.”

If you have any of the classic signs of diabetes, which include feeling very thirsty or hungry, blurry vision, fatigue, having sores that don’t heal, and having frequent infections, it’s a good idea to talk to a healthcare professional.

Your doctor will likely order testing to get a better idea of what’s happening in your body, and suggest next steps from there.

2025-10-02T15:46:28Z