Study unravels secrets of ‘mysterious’ form of diabetes that affects millions

New findings suggest people with this rare type of diabetes have a ‘very profound’ defect in insulin secretion

Scientists have found that a mysterious form of diabetes, known as malnutrition-related diabetes, affects tens of millions of people in Asian and sub-Saharan African countries. The advance could lead to new treatments for those affected.

The disease, known as “low BMI diabetes (LD),” mainly affects thin and impoverished adolescents, and young adults who rarely live more than a year after diagnosis, according to the study published recently in the journal Diabetes Care.

While the victims are young and thin, suggesting they may have type 1 diabetes (T1D), researchers, including those from Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, say insulin injections usually don’t help them, and can even cause death from low blood sugar.