You’ve probably already heard of Type 1 diabetes and Type 2 diabetes. More than 38 million Americans have diabetes, and 90% to 95% of those individuals have Type 2. While the two types are notably different, diabetes is essentially a disease in which the body struggles to regulate blood sugar levels.
Unlike Type 1 and Type 2, a Type 5 diabetes diagnosis is new. The International Diabetes Federation officially recognized Type 5 diabetes in 2025, and research estimates that up to 25 million people have it.
So what is this condition that so many people have, and that so many of us don’t know about?
“Type 5 diabetes is a newly recognized form of diabetes that emerges primarily from chronic undernutrition, especially during early life, rather than autoimmune destruction like Type 1 or insulin resistance driven by obesity like Type 2,” said Dr. Ken Berry, a family physician who helps patients with obesity, insulin resistance and Type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Yoon Kook Kim, a board-certified endocrinologist at UM St. Joseph Medical Group, explained how it develops: “It is thought that a long-term, early exposure to undernutrition leads to underdevelopment of the pancreas, which is crucial to insulin delivery and production,” he said. “This leads to a state of inadequate insulin production, which in turn leads to uncontrolled and high blood sugar levels.”
