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Abstract
Introduction: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a global public health concern, affecting 10% of adults. Among its variants, latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) accounts for 3% to 11% of cases. Limited awareness and high testing costs contribute to misdiagnosis and inadequate treatment, increasing the risk of chronic complications.
Design: A cases series.
Methods: Fifteen Peruvian patients with LADA were studied to describe their clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment.
Results: The average age was 36.2 years, with a mean disease duration of 5.6 years. All patients presented with acute symptoms, and their mean body mass index at diagnosis was 23.3 kg/m². Glycemic control was achieved with an average daily insulin dose of 0.96 IU/kg. None of the patients had access to capillary glucose self-monitoring or continuous glucose monitoring, as all were living in poverty or extreme poverty.
Conclusions: LADA is an uncommon form of early-onset DM whose diagnosis and treatment in resource-limited countries are impacted by socioeconomic conditions. Therefore, we propose a clinical algorithm for managing this condition in low-resource settings.
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Type: Case Report
ELECTRON J GEN MED, Volume 22, Issue 4, August 2025, Article No: em653
https://doi.org/10.29333/ejgm/16301
Publication date: 01 Jul 2025
Online publication date: 30 Apr 2025
Article Views: 13
Article Downloads: 9
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