Type 2 and "Double Diabetes"

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

double diabetes is when a person with type 1 diabetes has elements of type 2 or when a person with type 2 diabetes has elements of type 1.

increasing obesity and poor fitness has lead to a remarkable increase in type 2 diabetes in youth and young adults and to what is called "double diabetes" (or hybrid diabetes).

type 2 diabetes was once known as "adult-onset diabetes" but this term is no longer used because type 2 is on the rise in all age groups, including among children.

http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/type2/

[color=#0e3293]double diabetes summary

what does double diabetes look like in someone with type 1 diabetes?

in someone with type 1, the signs and symptoms typical of type 2 diabetes can develop gradually. how quickly they develop depends mostly on a person's genes and their degree of weight gain.

• they are usually overweight or obese.
  
• they need a high dose of insulin to control their blood sugar.
  
• they have developed insulin resistance, a condition where the body's cells no longer respond normally to insulin that the pancreas produces or that is given by injection or inhaled.
  
• they may have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
  
• they may have an abnormal lipid profile and poor diabetes control.
  
• teenage girls and women may have the polycystic ovary syndrome (pcos), which includes several hormonal abnormalities that lead to infrequent or absent periods, and excess hair growth and acne.

what does double diabetes look like in someone with type 2 diabetes?

if a teenager or child with all of the typical clinical features of type 2 diabetes –- excess body weight, acanthosis nigricans (velvety and dark colored skin of the neck, armpit and groin), high blood pressure, high cholesterol, polycystic ovary syndrome (pcos) (for girls), positive family history of type 2, belonging to ethnic/racial minority group -– has the presence of antibodies against the insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas, we would say he or she has elements of both kinds of diabetes. a number of reports have described that as many as 15-20% of teens with the typical symptoms of type 2 diabetes have antibodies circulating in their blood. because of the presence of these antibodies, they can no longer be considered a pure type 2 case.

the appearance of double diabetes can be quite different, depending on the degree of a person's insulin resistance. the combination of genetic tendency – the risk that a person will inherit something from their parents – and the degree of overweight, obesity and poor fitness will determine if someone becomes insulin resistant – and whether the resistance is moderate or severe.