Diabetes: A New Form Worries Experts, 25 Million People Affected Worldwide

This new form of diabetes is neither type 1 nor type 2, according to experts. No less than 25 million people worldwide are affected.

A new type of diabetes? There possibly is a version where malnutrition promotes a form of this disease distinct from those already categorized, according to the conclusions of global experts in this pathology published on Thursday 18th September 2025.

“We call on the international diabetes community to recognize this particular form of the disease ”, say the authors of this article published in The Lancet Global Health, which relays a consensus found within the International Diabetes Federation. They also emphasize that poor countries are the first to be affected.

Not overweight, but malnutrition

THE two main forms of diabetes are type 1, which appears in young subjects, and type 2, in older people. The first, which manifests itself acutely, comes from an insulin deficiency; in the second, more common, the hormone is produced normally, but the body is less sensitive to it.

However, experts note that’a common form of diabetes does not fit into these boxes. It appears in young patients, often under 30 years old, but is less acute than type 1 diabetes, with only reduced insulin production.

And, unlike type 2 diabetes, the overweight does not appear to be a risk factor. On the contrary, patients are generally malnourished or malnourished, with a lower than normal weight.

“ It is estimated that 25 million people worldwide suffer from this diabetes, mainly in poor or developing countries, report the authors.

The precise causes and possible treatments are still poorly identified

This concept is not new: in the 1980s and 1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified “diabetes linked to malnutrition”. But she gave it up in 1999, due to lack of agreement between experts on the fact that undernutrition alone is a sufficient factor to cause diabetes.

However, since then, multiple studies — in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Uganda, Pakistan, Rwanda — have confirmed the distinct existence of such a mechanism, according to the authors.

It is still largely unknown what physiological processes cause this diabetes, or the best way to treat it. Weight loss is logically not indicated and the effect of traditional treatments based on metformin or insulin remains uncertain.

Above all the fight against this diabetes largely involves maintaining and accelerating programs against poverty and hunger. In particular by “increasing access to simple, inexpensive, nutritious and protein-rich foods”, the authors conclude.