Diabetes caused by undernourishment has officially been named type 5 diabetes by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).
According to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the new label, “stems largely from the research and advocacy of Meredith Hawkins, M.D., M.S., professor of medicine, the Harold and Muriel Block Chair in Medicine, and founding director of the Global Diabetes Institute at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.”
Type 5 diabetes is common among “lean, malnourished teens and young adults in low- and middle-income countries” and is forecasted to infect 20-25 million people globally. Dr. Hawkins emphasized that treatment for this condition is unknown, and patients often don’t survive for more than a year after they are diagnosed.
Dr. Hawkins will co-chair a type 5 diabetes working group, according to a release. “The group has been tasked to develop formal diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for type 5 diabetes over the next two years.”
