A Comparative Analysis of Type 1 Diabetes, Type 2 Diabetes, and Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults, Focusing on the Misdiagnosis and Treatment of LADA
Category: Research Poster
Author(s): Kiley McCarthy
Presenter(s): Kiley McCarthy
Mentors(s): Kimberly Jeckel
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) annually publishes the “Standards of Care in Diabetes” to provide clinical guidelines on diabetes classifications, diagnostic criteria, and treatment options. In their 2024 edition, the American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee recognized four categories of diabetes: (1) type 1 diabetes, (2) type 2 diabetes, (3) specific forms of diabetes due to other causes, diseases of the exocrine pancreas, and diabetes induced by drugs or chemicals, and (4) gestational diabetes. Notably absent from this classification is latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA), despite the evidential differences in pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. Instead, the ADA lists LADA as a subset of type 1 diabetes while acknowledging the physiological differences between the two diseases. The exponentially increasing rates of misdiagnosis of LADA as type 1 or type 2 diabetes underscores the critical need for greater awareness and recognition, as inaccurate diagnosis can significantly worsen the autoimmune aspects and rate of progression of the disease. This paper explores the pathophysiological, endocrinological, and immunological features of type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and LADA, emphasizing the need for LADA to be recognized as a distinct classification with established guidelines for diagnosis and treatment.