The two main types of diabetes are type 1 and type 2. Other types of diabetes include gestational diabetes, type 3c diabetes and latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA).1,3,4 Type 2 is the most common form of diabetes, accounting for 90% of all diabetes cases globally, followed by type 1.1 However, only 6-10% of people with diabetes have LADA, and only 9% of all people with diabetes have type 3c.3,4
Regardless, all types of diabetes have one thing in common: elevated levels of glucose in the blood. If you don’t have diabetes, your body (pancreas) senses that glucose has entered the bloodstream, releases the right amount of insulin, and allows the glucose into the cells. If you have diabetes, this system of regulating and releasing glucose through the presence of insulin doesn’t work.1