Tip Sheet: Could It Be LADA? Know Your Diagnosis, Know Your Options

LADA, or latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, is a form of type 1 diabetes that begins in adulthood. It develops gradually, and the pancreas may still make insulin early on. Because of that, LADA can look like type 2 diabetes and is sometimes missed.

Could It Be LADA? Know Your Diagnosis, Know Your Options explains how LADA is diagnosed and the clues that may mean an evaluation is worth asking about. It also gives you questions to bring to your care team, so you can get the treatment, tools and support that fit you best.

Key Takeaways

• LADA can look like type 2 at first. Non-insulin medications may work early on. If your treatment stops working the way it used to, that’s a reason to look at the diagnosis again, not a sign that you’ve failed.
• Diagnosis looks at three things. Your care team considers your age at diagnosis, diabetes antibody tests, and whether you went at least 6 months without needing insulin.
• Know the AABBCC clues. Age, autoimmunity, body habitus, background, blood glucose management and comorbidities can each be a reason to ask about a LADA evaluation.
• C-peptide answers a different question. It shows how much insulin your pancreas makes now. A normal result doesn’t rule out LADA.
• Insulin isn’t a failure. As your body makes less insulin, insulin is the right tool for LADA. Continuous glucose monitoring can help you and your care team spot patterns over time.

Download the Could It Be LADA? handout for questions you can ask your care team if your diabetes story doesn’t quite fit.