In clinics across rural Ghana and throughout the African continent, millions of people living with type 2 diabetes are receiving medicine designed for a disease they do not have. New research from Amsterdam UMC and the University of Ghana reveals that body weight divides type 2 diabetes into two biologically distinct conditions — one rooted in insulin resistance, the other in pancreatic failure — yet both are treated identically, a mismatch that may explain why lean African patients suffer disproportionate rates of blindness and stroke. The assumption that diabetes is a disease of excess, born
Type 2 diabetes operates differently by BMI, yet treatment remains one-size-fits-all
Millions of lean African diabetic patients receive ineffective treatment, leading to preventable complications including retinopathy, strokes, and poor blood sugar control.