Scientists have identified six distinct subtypes of prediabetes

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Since 1980, the number of people with type 2 diabetes in around the world has increased fourfold. About 7 million people suffer from it in Germany alone. By 2040, the number of people with this disease in the country may increase to 12 million.

The peculiarity of type 2 diabetes is that it does not appear suddenly. People have been at the stage of prediabetes for a long time. That is, the level of glucose in the blood is already elevated, but the diagnosis has not yet been made. As a result of research, it became known that there are six distinct subtypes of prediabetes.

This was found out by scientists from the Institute for Research on Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases (IDM) at the University of Tübingen, the University Hospital of Tübingen and the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD). The scientific article was published in the journal Nature Medicine. Professor Hans-Ulrich Hering initiated the research 25 years ago. He noted that until now it was impossible to predict whether people with prediabetes would develop the disease or not.

Now scientists are able to analyze it. Thus, three of the subtypes of prediabetes (clusters 1, 2 and 4) are characterized by a low risk of the disease. Study participants in groups 1 and 2 were healthy. A particularly low risk of developing the disease was noted in cluster 2, which included mainly thin people. Cluster 4 contained overweight individuals whose metabolism remains relatively healthy.

The three remaining subtypes (clusters 3, 5, and 6) are associated with an increased risk of diabetes and/or secondary diseases. In particular, people with subtype 3 produce too little insulin and are at high risk of developing diabetes. People in cluster 5 have pronounced fatty liver and a very high risk of diabetes because their bodies are resistant to the action of insulin. In subtype 6, kidney damage occurs before diabetes is diagnosed. Mortality here is also particularly high.

Scientists intend to continue the research. They want to find out to what extent the new findings are applicable to classifying individuals into risk groups. If it is effective, then people with a high probability of developing type 2 diabetes can receive special treatment at an early stage.