The expert University of Miami Health System team treats less common forms of diabetes, including:

• Monogenic diabetes: an inherited form of diabetes
• Cystic fibrosis-related diabetes

Tests

Blood Tests
Blood tests of glucose levels and other assessments can show how much insulin the body is making. In select cases, we’ll review genetic information from a blood sample to determine whether an individual has a gene causing MODY or neonatal diabetes.

Cystic Fibrosis-Related Diabetes
Diabetes can be triggered by cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disease which causes abnormal composition of some of the body’s secretions. Sticky mucus, a characteristic of the disease, causes scarring of the pancreas and prevents it from producing normal amounts of insulin. Research indicates that more than half of Americans living with cystic fibrosis will also develop diabetes.

Blood Glucose Test
While people with cystic fibrosis initially make some – but not enough – insulin, by the time they are adults, more than half of the patients have cystic fibrosis-related diabetes. Blood glucose and other tests can help diagnose this type of diabetes.

Treatments

Oral Medications
Individuals with monogenic diabetes may be misdiagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and treated with insulin. However, oral medications, such as sulfonylureas, can better manage this type of diabetes. That’s why it’s important that you or your newborn visit our diabetes specialists for testing to determine the correct diagnosis.

Diet and Exercise
Diet and exercise play important roles in all treatment for monogenic diabetes.

Monitor Blood Glucose Levels
Cystic fibrosis affects the body’s secretions of digestive enzymes and insulin from the pancreas. That's why cystic fibrosis patients with diabetes should monitor blood glucose levels even more rigorously than other diabetes patients.

Insulin Management
Our diabetes experts can help determine which products and delivery systems will work best for you to monitor your blood glucose levels and correctly administer your insulin.

Proper Nutrition
Because proper nutrition is so critical in managing diabetes, we’ll teach you how different foods affect your blood glucose and how to develop appropriate meal plans to meet your needs.

Why Choose UHealth?

Personalized care and in one location. The Comprehensive Diabetes Center gives you access to multiple, premier specialists in a single visit, so you can see several physicians and receive many of the services you need in one day. Your personal patient navigator will assist you in coordinating care and scheduling visits based on your needs.

Monogenic diabetes expertise. Most diabetes cases, including both Type 1 and Type 2, are polygenic diseases, meaning there is more than one gene contributing to the risk of diabetes. Some very rare forms of diabetes called monogenic diabetes are inherited forms of diabetes caused by single gene mutations. The most common form is maturity onset diabetes of the young, or MODY. Single gene mutations are also the cause of neonatal diabetes, or diabetes that appears in newborns, up to about 6 to 9 months old.