The Lancet Global Health in conversation with

The Lancet Group

Gavin Cleaver, Senior Editor at The Lancet Global Health, is joined in conversation by authors of new publications in the journal to explore their latest research and its impact on healthcare, people's health, and health policy. A monthly audio companion to this open access journal, this podcast covers a broad range of topics, from practice-changing clinical research in low and middle income countries to international financing for primary health care, the decolonisation of global health research, neglected tropical diseases, and much more.

  1. 09/17/2025

    Meredith Hawkins and Nihal Thomas on type 5 diabetes

    70 years ago this year, a researcher at University College of the West Indies in Jamaica published a paper in The Lancet describing a case series of patients with diabetes who did not have the typical hallmarks of type 1 or type 2 disease. They were young, underweight, resistant to insulin, and did not tend to have ketoacidosis.  The condition was coined J-type diabetes, after Jamaica, and it was briefly recognised by WHO as malnutrition-related diabetes. However, WHO removed it from its official classification in 1999, because of insufficient evidence of its association with malnutrition.  In this episode of In Conversation With, Professor Meredith Hawkins and Professor Nihal Thomas explain how this “lost” condition, which they estimate affects 25 million people worldwide, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, is now becoming more widely recognised and better understood, albeit with a long way to go in terms of additional research. They also propose a new name: type 5 diabetes. Listen now to explore the fascinating history of the disorder and the urgent need for effective treatments. Read the full Viewpoint: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(25)00263-3/fulltext?dgcid=buzzsprout_icw_podcast_September_25_langlo Continue this conversation on social! Follow us today at... https://thelancet.bsky.social/ https://instagram.com/thelancetgroup https://facebook.com/thelancetmedicaljournal https://linkedIn.com/company/the-lancet https://youtube.com/thelancettv

    30 min

About

Gavin Cleaver, Senior Editor at The Lancet Global Health, is joined in conversation by authors of new publications in the journal to explore their latest research and its impact on healthcare, people's health, and health policy. A monthly audio companion to this open access journal, this podcast covers a broad range of topics, from practice-changing clinical research in low and middle income countries to international financing for primary health care, the decolonisation of global health research, neglected tropical diseases, and much more.