Many people are aware of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Iowa residents who have a family history of diabetes may be interested to know that a third type may be frequently misdiagnosed.
The third type of diabetes is a result of a damaged pancreas. However, according to one study, there is a chance that the condition has been misdiagnosed as type 2 diabetes. This type of misdiagnosis is significant as the treatment for the two conditions are different. Misdiagnoses can result in a waste of money and time used to administer useless treatment plans while the patients continue to have high blood sugar levels.
In one study, researchers examined millions of health records and located 30,000 instances of adult-onset diabetes. Out of these cases of diabetes, 559 of the cases were found to have started after pancreatic disease. Even though the association between type 3c diabetes and pancreatic disease is known, 88 percent of the 559 cases were diagnosed as type 2 diabetes, while just 3 percent were correctly diagnosed as type 3c diabetes. Individuals who incurred diabetes after their pancreatic disease tended to not be able to manage their blood sugar as well as others and needed more insulin.
The author of the study asserts that the study’s results indicate that the recognition and diagnosis of type 3c diabetes has to improve. The lack of acknowledgement about the condition may be exemplified by the absence a mention of the condition on the American Diabetes Association’s website, even though the study was printed in one of its publications. Patients who have been harmed as a result of this type of a misdiagnosis may want to discuss their situations with a medical malpractice attorney.