When people think about diabetes, usually the terms type 1 and type 2 come to mind. Did you know that there’s a type 4 kind as well, though? It’s not discussed as often but you should definitely know about it because many health professionals are concerned that the disease is being underdiagnosed.
What’s Type 4 Diabetes?
As with other types of diabetes, this form of the disease deals with insulin resistance. In this case, however, the resistance has been found to be related to aging.
The older adults who are affected by type 4 diabetes are also typically slender and so have no issues caused by being overweight. Since these people don’t usually have the risk factors associated with diabetes, it’s possible that their illness might go undiagnosed until it causes complications.
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How To Know If You’re At Risk
According to the studies that have been done on mice, type 4 diabetes may be linked to the process of aging. It has been suggested that an excess of immune cells called regulatory T cells is one of the reasons behind older adults developing the disease.
Since these studies have not yet been done on human subjects, it’s difficult to say what other risk factors you might need to look out for. Of course, since the condition might be going undiagnosed, doctors won’t have information about how type 4 diabetes can affect different ethnicities or groups of people.
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What You Need To Do
Even though much isn’t known about type 4 diabetes, it’s likely that it will have the same symptoms as diabetes in general. These symptoms typically include fatigue, blurry vision, increased thirst, increased hunger, frequent urination, unexplained weight loss, and sores that won’t heal.
It’s true that these can also be signs of other chronic illnesses, though, so don’t automatically assume that you’re diabetic. In any case, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor.
It’s important to note that the diagnosis and treatment options haven’t been finalized for type 4 diabetes either. It’s possible that in the future, doctors will be able to definitively link the presence of certain
immune cells and the disease but that isn’t possible yet.
However, if you’re concerned, it’s a good idea to consult with an endocrinologist about your options. There are still ways to confirm if you’re diabetic in general.
Just as there’s no way to diagnose type 4 diabetes, the potential treatments have not been confirmed either.
However, some doctors have suggested that using the medications for type 2 diabetes may be effective. If you’re open to more experimental options then ask your doctor about clinical trials. These trials can be an excellent way for doctors to pinpoint how to diagnose and treat the disease.
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It would also be nice to know that you can prevent the disease from ever developing. Since there’s such little information available about type 4 diabetes, however, health experts suggest following the guidelines for preventing diabetes in general.
It’s essential that you eat healthily and practice regular exercise. When you see your doctor annually, ask about being tested for diabetes whether or not they think you’re at risk.
While there’s no information out there about how type 4 diabetes might affect African Americans, it’s not unreasonable to think that the risk might be the same as with other types of diabetes.
As such, it’s important to pay attention to changes in your health and ask your doctor about anything you’d like to clarify. This kind of vigilance is especially important as you age.
