“Can one be diagnosed with both type 2 and type 1 diabetes?”

If you have Type 1 diabetes that means your pancreas does not produce insulin. You cannot have both at the same time, because the pancreas does produce insulin in Type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which antibodies destroy the pancreatic cells, Type 2 diabetes, classically is a problem with pancreatic fatigue in which the islet cells in the pancreas cannot keep up with the person's needs and eventually they poop out and make less and less insulin. Both are insulin deficiency problems. Persons who are overweight many times are insulin resistant and their insulin needs are greater and thus the pancreatic cells poop out and just can't keep up and the cells die and are depleted of insulin. There are type 2 diabetics that act like type 1 diabetics. They are volatile in control and are not responsive to diet. Some are thin even. I have noticed that Japanese diabetics are sometimes this way. Also patients who have diabetes 2 for a long time have difficult to control sensitive diabetes who are not overweight. It is moot if there is type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Both are just as problematic. A good diet, lots of monitoring (a continuous monitor is great), exercise, and all the healthy lifestyle choices we all need are necessary. (Don't forget a good night's sleep and keeping the worry and stress down).

Paul Norwood, MD

A person can either have type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Type 1 is when organ called pancreases does not make insulin. And type 2 is when a person makes insulin and it’s not working to lower the sugar. It is possible to be miss diagnosed as type 2 when it’s actually type 1. It is also possible for a type 2 diabetic over many years to decrease insulin production and require treatment with insulin but these people remain with diagnosis of type 2. In Summery, type 1 diabetes mellitus have pancreases destruction and don’t make almost any insulin from the beginning, while type2 make insulin, sometimes even too much, but resistant to it from the beginning. Hope this answers your question.

Dr Marina Strizhevsky

Usually patients with type 1 diabetes cannot have type 2 diabetes but may have some clinical features of insulin resistance which are common in type 2 diabetes. Type 2 patients with disease progression can be only on insulin, they do not develop type 1 but have clinical features of it.

Yes it can happen. Both type 1 & type 2 are genetic diseases, but different genes. They are 2 different pathways to the same end. It is rare to inherit both sets of genes at the same time but it is possible. You should begin by testing for pancreatic antibodies that are markers for Type 1. If you don't have antibodies, then you probably do not have Type1 (though there is a small chance you could. a few people with type 1 do not have antibodies). If you have antibodies, you have Type 1. To find out about Type 2 you would need further genetic testing. There is no specific test for Type 2. We rely on signs & symptoms but if you really want to know you could have gene testing that could tell you if you have can dilate genes for type 2. That would be expensive & I wouldn't recommend it since you have to treat the Type 1 & that will treat the Type 2 at the same time.

In type 1 diabetes a person is unable to produce Insulin. In type 2 Diabetes a person produces Insulin and because of many factors (Obesity being one of them) the cells in the body are "resistant" to the action of insulin resulting in an elevated blood glucose.