Learn about Secondary Diabetes

Linnet Steinman explains Secondary Diabetes, as well as its relation to Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes.

Question: Secondary diabetics, what it is? Dr. Linnet Steinman: Secondary diabetics. We don't see very often, but it can occur in the presence of something like systic fibrosis. Systic fibrosis is also auto immune disease, so we can see that the Type 1 diabetics occur in someone that is on medication such as steroid; prednisone being one of them. As a matter of fact, my elder son was on a round of Prednisone immediately prior to his diagnosis. The Prednisone didn't cause secondary diabetics for him, but it did cause his diabetics to manifest. But for somebody who is on round to the clock steroids or long-term steroids, for example for pulmonary disease, asthma, terrible asthma they may end up getting some secondary diabetics, and that actually may -- once their steroid therapy is done that actually may bring the blood sugars back into control. Does secondary diabetes act like Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes? Dr. Linnet Steinman: For people with systic fibrosis, they are getting Type 1 diabetes. For the steroids, they may need some insulin to treat it, it is more like Type 2 in the sense, they have a resistance the steroids cause a resistance to the insulin that circulating. So, their body is still making insulin, it's just not working well, but for systic fibrosis their pancreas begin to shutdown and doesn't make the insulin that's required.