What is "ketosis-prone diabetes"

n. severe diabetes mellitus with an early onset; characterized by polyuria and excessive thirst and increased appetite and weight loss and episodic ketoacidosis; diet and insulin injections are required to control the disease [syn: type I diabetes, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, IDDM, juvenile-onset diabetes, juvenile diabetes, growth-onset diabetes, ketoacidosis-prone diabetes, autoimmune diabetes]

Ketosis-prone diabetes or KPD is an intermediate form of diabetes that has some characteristics of type 1 and some of type 2 diabetes. However, it is distinct from latent autoimmune diabetes, an intermediate diabetes which is known as type 1.5.

KPD is readily diagnosible because it presents a single characteristic, ketoacidosis, which if present, confirms it as ketosis-prone diabetes. KPD comes in four forms depending upon the presence or absence of β-cell autoantibodies (A+ or A−) and β-cell functional reserve (β+ or β−).