What's in a name: latent autoimmune diabetes of adults, type 1.5, adult-onset, and type 1 diabetes

With the discovery of GAD antibodies as another marker of type 1 diabetes, Paul Zimmet et al introduced the term "latent autoimmune diabetes of adults" (LADA) to describe an important minority of adult-onset patients with diabetes. Unfortunately, the phenotype of adult-onset diabetic patients is extremely variable, resulting in confusion with the nomenclature and classification of these patients.