Diagnosis And Beyond: Diabetes

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Diagnosis and beyond

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If you're a slim 17-year-old with elevated blood sugar levels and ketones (see "Symptoms of type 1 diabetes") in your urine, it's very likely that you have type 1 diabetes. If you're an overweight 55-year-old, chances are your diabetes is type 2. But determining the type of diabetes a person has isn't always straightforward.

Thanks in part to the allure of super-sized, fat-laden fast food and the TV set, more young people than ever before are overweight. As a result, type 2 diabetes has become increasingly common in youngsters. And while type 1 diabetes is much more common in younger people, as many as 10% of those affected are first diagnosed when they are older than 40. Therefore, your doctor must consider numerous factors in order to classify your diabetes, including weight, family history, and laboratory results.

FAST FACT: Cost of diabetes

Diabetes carries a high price tag, with health care, treatment, and indirect costs (such as disability and lost productivity) totaling $132 billion a year in the United States.

Diagnosis and beyond: 1 of 2

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Last updated:	January 23, 2007

Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.

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