Double Diabetes problem growing

Diabetes is rife in American, with over 7 per cent of the population (well over 20 million Americans) facing the disease. Of these, over 6 million are unaware of their condition and a further 41 million have pre-diabetes . One offshoot of the epidemic is the occurrence of a new strain of diabetes, known as ‘double diabetes.’
Double diabetes occurs when a patient is suffering from both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and is also known as ‘hybrid diabetes.’ Dr. Weiss, a Professor of Medicine at the New York University School of Medicine in New York City, said: “It’s mostly people who have a type 1 diabetes who become overweight and show the profile of a type 2, with obesity and hypertension.”
The phenomenon is a relatively new one, and worryingly it appears to be growing. Apparently, up to 30 per cent of child patients diagnosed with diabetes could be suffering from both type 1 and type 2. Symptoms are generally the same as for type 2; being overweight is the most common.
Treating both strains at the same time means taking a different approach to healthcare . Weiss concluded: “We have all sorts of medications that address different problems for different types of diabetes. The question with double diabetes becomes, when can we use the different types of medications and what would be appropriate for different patients?”