LANCE BASS MISDIAGNOSED BEFORE LEARNING HE HAS RARE FORM OF DIABETES

• Lance Bass recently shared that he has type 1.5 diabetes.
• The condition isn’t as well known as other forms of diabetes.
• Type 1.5 diabetes can be misdiagnosed.

Former NSYNC singer Lance Bass is opening up about a new medical diagnosis he’s received. The 45-year-old revealed in an Instagram post over the weekend that he has type 1.5 diabetes.

“Plot twist: I have Type 1.5 diabetes!” he wrote in the caption of a sponsored post for a continuous glucose monitor. In the video, Bass explained that he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes “a few years back.” However, he revealed that he had a “difficult time” getting his blood glucose levels within a target range, even though he made adjustments to his diet, medications, and workout routine. “Things just weren’t adding up,” he added.

“I recently discovered I was misdiagnosed,” Bass continued, before noting that he was then diagnosed with type 1.5 diabetes. “You could say my pancreas decided to keep things a little interesting,” he joked. “It’s been quite the journey.”

Bass previously told People that he was diagnosed with diabetes during the height of the pandemic. “I’m really trying to figure out how to control that,” he said in March. “I’m learning what you can eat, when you can eat, when you take your insulin—and all that has just been really hard lately.”

Meet the experts: Anupam Ohri, M.D., is an associate professor in the Division of Endocrinology at Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; David Goldfarb, M.D., is a nephrologist and professor of medicine and physiology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine; Janet M. O'Mahony, M.D., an internal medicine doctor at Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center.

Bass’ news has raised a lot of questions about type 1.5 diabetes. Here’s what you need to know about the condition, plus why it’s often misdiagnosed.

What is type 1.5 diabetes?

Type 1.5 diabetes is another name for latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA). This is a type of diabetes that starts in adulthood and typically gets worse over time.

Research shows that type 1.5 diabetes makes up 2 to 12% of people with adult-onset diabetes. But type 1.5 diabetes is “often misdiagnosed as type 2 diabetes,” says Anupam Ohri, M.D., an associate professor in the Division of Endocrinology at Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

The autoimmune component of this condition matters, says David Goldfarb, M.D., a nephrologist and professor of medicine and physiology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. “That basically means that there is a process leading to autoantibodies that attack and damage the cells in the pancreas,” he says. When the pancreas’ islet cells, which are where insulin comes from, are damaged, it’s difficult for a person to make as much insulin as their body needs, he explains.

Insulin, in case you’re not familiar, is a hormone that helps to escort blood sugar into the body’s cells, where it’s used for energy.

“This form of diabetes is usually diagnosed in an adult over 30,” says Janet M. O’Mahony, M.D., an internal medicine doctor at Baltimore’s Mercy Medical Center.

What causes type 1.5 diabetes?

It’s not entirely clear what causes type 1.5 diabetes, but Dr. Ohri says that there seems to be a genetic link. Meaning, it may run in families. But, more research is needed on this.

Some researchers also think that type 1.5 diabetes is a form of type 1 diabetes that develops more slowly in adults, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Type 1.5 diabetes symptoms

Symptoms of type 1.5 diabetes can mimic those of other forms of diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), they can include:

• Peeing often
• Feeling very thirsty
• Feeling very hungry
• Extreme fatigue
• Blurry vision
• Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
• Tingling, pain, or numbness in the hands and feet

But people with undiagnosed and untreated type 1.5 diabetes might develop what’s known as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which is a life-threatening complication, Dr. Goldfarb says. According to Medline Plus, those symptoms may include:

• Decreased alertness
• Deep, rapid breathing
• Dehydration
• Dry skin and mouth
• Flushed face
• Frequent urination or thirst that lasts for a day or more
• Fruity-smelling breath
• Headache
• Muscle stiffness or aches
• Nausea and vomiting
• Stomach pain

How is type 1.5 diabetes different from type 1 and type 2 diabetes?

Patients with type 1.5 diabetes “do not fit into criteria for type 1 and type 2 [diabetes] easily,” Dr. Ohri says.

Type 1 diabetes is a condition where the pancreas doesn’t make insulin or makes very little insulin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a result, blood sugar can build up in the bloodstream and lead to complications. People with type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to live.

Most Americans with diabetes have type 2, per the CDC. Type 2 diabetes is a condition where the body can’t use insulin properly. When you have type 2 diabetes, the pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond and, over time, your blood sugar rises, teeing up prediabetes or type 2, the CDC explains.

Patients with type 1.5 diabetes “are usually older than the classic age of diagnosis of type 1 diabetes,” Dr. Ohri says. “They have positive antibodies like type 1 diabetes.” While obesity and overweight is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, this is not the case for patients with type 1.5 or type 2, Dr. Ohri notes.

Patients with type 1.5 diabetes can be misdiagnosed, simply because doctors aren’t looking for markers of the condition. “We don’t typically check for autoimmune antibodies and that is how to diagnose LADA,” Dr. O'Mahony says.

Type 1.5 diabetes treatment

People with type 1.5 diabetes may need insulin for treatment, Dr. O’Mahony says. “In this way, we treat them like a type 1 diabetic with basal-bolus insulin or an insulin pump,” she says. But Dr. O’Mahony says that patients with type 1.5 diabetes tend to have a lower chance of developing diabetic ketoacidosis than patients with type 1 diabetes. “Although these patients are insulin deficient, they retain some beta cell function, at least for a while. That keeps them from having full-blown DKA,” Dr. O’Mahony says.

Patients with type 1.5 diabetes may also take medications like DPP-4 inhibitors, GLP-1 agonists (like Ozempic), or thiazolidinediones, Dr. Ohri says. “But once there are no insulin reserves in the pancreas, they need to be on insulin,” she adds.

Try 200+ at home workout videos from Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Prevention, and more on All Out Studio free for 14 days!

2024-07-31T12:32:51Z