Type 1B, or idiopathic diabetes, is a type-1 of diabetes which is not autoimmune. People with idiopathic diabetes have an insulin deficiency and can experience ketoacidosis like people with type-1 diabetes. However, their need for injected insulin waxes and wanes overtime. Patients of African, Asian, or Hispanic decent are the most likely groups to develop idiopathic diabetes.
It almost seems as if idiopathic diabetes is a cross between the two types. It is important to understand the basic difference is the way the body processes insulin in each. People with type-one diabetes are insulin deficient, meaning the pancreas in these individuals produces little or no insulin.
Type-2 diabetics generally generate enough insulin but the cells are resistant to it, so their bodies cannot regulate blood sugar properly. Type-2 diabetes is not an autoimmune disease either, but in idiopathic diabetes there is no insulin resistance, there is just not enough insulin being secreted. Therefore, idiopathic diabetes is much more like type-1 diabetes. Idiopathic diabetes is sometimes misdiagnosed as type-2 diabetes.
Idiopathic diabetes can be difficult to diagnose. According to DiabetesTypes.org, it really makes no difference whether you are diagnosed with type-1 or type-1B. Aside from periods of time when you are free of insulin dependence, treatment and management of the disease is the same. The only practical reason to test for genetic causes or autoantibodies is to know if there is a possibility of preserving some islet cell function or if it is unclear if the patient has type-1 and type-2.
Causes of Idiopathic Diabetes
Idiopathic diabetes is often referred to as the diabetes of unknown origin. It is not completely understood what is behind the destruction of the beta cells in this disease. Just like other types of diabetes, it is likely caused by a combination of a genetic predisposition and an environmental trigger which activates it.
NetPlaces.com states that a person who has an immediate family member with type-1 diabetes is 15% more likely than the general population of developing diabetes. Yet only 10% of the people with type-1 diabetes have a first-degree relative with the disease. Twins have been studied to help put idiopathic diabetes heredity into perspective. The results have shown that an estimated 25 – 50% of twins will develop type-1 diabetes. Therefore, just because someone carries the gene for the disease, there is no guarantee that they will get it. Something must flip the switch for idiopathic diabetes to become active.
