Archive · 1 Oct 2025
Scientists Advocate for Tailored Treatment for Type 5 Diabetes
Imagine your body has different ways of getting sick.
Most people get types 1 or 2 diabetes.
But there's a new type, called type 5, which is caused by not getting enough food for a long time.
It mainly affects people who are underweight and don't have enough healthy food.
It's different from the other types because it's not about your body attacking itself or being overweight.
Instead, type 5 messes with how your body makes and uses insulin.
Scientists want doctors to treat this type of diabetes differently.
They focus on helping people eat better and get the right amount of medicine to control their blood sugar.
Scientists are calling for separate designation and treatment for Type 5 diabetes.
Type 5 diabetes, or MRDM, is caused by severe, long-term malnutrition.
Unlike Types 1 and 2, Type 5 is not an autoimmune disease nor is it associated with obesity.
Diagnosis involves assessing malnutrition history, BMI, age, and blood glucose.
Treatment involves nutritional rehabilitation, careful insulin use, oral medications, and a high-protein diet.
- Who
- Scientists
- What
- Advocating for separate classification and tailored treatment for Type 5 diabetes.
- When
- Formally classified as Type 5 diabetes at an international meeting earlier in the year
- Where
- Not specified.
- Why
- Due to its unique characteristics and distinct biological mechanisms.
- Type 5 Diabetes Name
- Malnutrition-Related Diabetes (MRDM)
- Cause
- Severe, long-term malnutrition
- Key Feature
- Impaired pancreatic development, defective insulin secretion
- Typical Patient
- Underweight individuals in low- and middle-income countries
- Diagnosis
- History of malnutrition, low BMI, age under 30, blood glucose tests
- Treatment Focus
- Nutritional rehabilitation, careful insulin control, oral medications, high-protein diet