Former boy band singer Lance Bass is putting a pop face on a kind of diabetes unknown to most Americans after he was recently diagnosed with what is called “type 1.5 diabetes.”
Bass, who sang the the 90s band NSync, and who has starred on the enormously popular show Rupaul’s Drag Race for years, was initially diagnosed with type two diabetes within the past several years, according to his social media posts. But then came what he called a “plot twist.” It turns out he actually has latent autoimmune diabetes, which is being called type 1.5.
Diabetes is a disease of hormonal dysfunction that prevents the body from properly metabolizing sugar, leading to very high blood sugar levels. Over time, this causes damage to the heart, the organs, and in extreme cases, to the limbs, with severe cases causing gangrene in the feet which can require amputation.
Type one diabetes, also called “juvenile diabetes,” is the variety that is inborn rather than caused by obesity and poor diet. Those with type one have pancreases that make little or no insulin, the hormone necessary to metabolize sugar and keep the body’s levels healthy. Sufferers must inject insulin on a regular schedule.
By contrast, type two diabetes is usually caused by obesity which stresses the body’s insulin receptors, causing them to “burn out.” The pancreas produces insulin, but the body cannot use it efficiently. Those with type two rely on some combination of diet, weight loss, and oral drugs to keep their blood sugar in check.
Type 1.5 is an autoimmune condition in which the body’s natural defenses attack the pancreas and destroy the cells that produce insulin. The end result is the same as those with type one diabetes. Patients cannot produce enough insulin on their own and must inject it.
Bass said he suspected something was wrong when, after being diagnosed with type two, he still could not keep his blood sugar levels controlled. He is not obese, and he said he modified his diet to adhere to diabetic recommendations, but “things just weren’t adding up.”
Type 1.5 usually shows up in people 30 or older, and gets worse over time.
Of the one million cases of diabetes diagnosed in Americans every year, 10 percent of them have type 1.5. The treatment regimen for those is the same as for type one. Not only must patients carefully control the amount of carbohydrates they eat, but they must also regularly test their blood glucose and inject synthetic insulin.
