Type 1 Diabetes / LADA

Diabetes LADA

LADA stands for Latent Autoimmune Diabetes of Adulthood. LADA is a form of type 1 diabetes that develops later into adulthood. LADA tends to develop more slowly than type 1 diabetes in childhood and, because LADA can sometimes appear similar to type 2 diabetes, doctors may mistakenly diagnose LADA as type 2 diabetes.

How does LADA compare with other diabetes types?
LADA is sometimes referred to as type 1.5 diabetes. This is not an official term but it does illustrate the fact that LADA is a form of type 1 diabetes that shares some characteristics with type 2 diabetes.
As a form of type 1 diabetes, LADA is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and kills off insulin producing cells. The reasons why LADA can often be mistaken for type 2 diabetes is it develops over a longer period of time than type 1 diabetes in children or younger adults.
Whereas type 1 diabetes in children tends to develop quickly, sometimes within the space of days, LADA develops more slowly, sometimes over a period of years. The slower onset of diabetes symptoms being presented in people over 35 years may lead a GP to initially diagnose a case of LADA as type 2 diabetes.

Symptoms of LADA

The first symptoms of LADA include:

  • Feeling tired all the time or regularly tired after meals
  • Foggy headedness
  • Experiencing hunger soon after meals

    • As LADA develops, a person’s ability to produce insulin will gradually decrease and this may lead to symptoms such as:

  • A hard to quench thirst
  • Needing to frequently urinate
  • Blurred vision
  • Tingling nerves

    • It is important to catch the symptoms at the earliest stage because diagnosis of LADA at a later stage increases the risk of developing diabetes complications.


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