Een 54-jarige man met onverklaard gewichtsverlies

Abstract

A 54-year-old male patient with unexplained weight loss Unfortunately, a common form of autoimmune diabetes in adults remains ill-recognized in daily clinical practice. This articles describes a case of a 54-year-old male patient with a recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus, who was referred to the internal medicine service with unexplained weight loss. Thorough analysis led to the diagnosis of latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA). Remarkably, unexplained weight loss and a moderate response to the initial treatment were the only clinical manifestations of this autoimmune form of diabetes. First, the article briefly describes the analysis of unexplained weight loss and then discusses this still poorly recognized form of diabetes. Taking into account the worldwide acknowledgment of the heterogeneity of both type 1 and 2, an exact diabetes classification is becoming increasingly compelling, considering its (therapeutic) consequences. Furthermore, in the context of unexplained weight loss and regardless of a pre-existing diagnosis of diabetes, this form of autoimmune diabetes should be considered.