Diabetes comes in many shapes and forms. It is important for the general physician to recognise when clinical characteristics, response to treatment and associated features suggest an alternative variety of diabetes, over and above the traditional type 1 and type 2 forms which are far more common. Key to these suspicions are taking a clear history of the development of the diabetes and being aware of the family history.
Keywords: Maturity onset of the young; ketosis prone type 2 diabetes; latent autoimmune diabetes of adult onset; molecular genetics; monogenic diabetes.
© 2014 Royal College of Physicians.