A few years ago, NSYNC's Lance Bass was diagnosed with type 1.5 diabetes, a condition that he admits left him terrified. "I was giving so many excuses of why I was feeling certain ways, so tired, so thirsty. Some days I would wake up and my legs wouldn't really work," the Mississippi-born singer told TODAY. "I was just thinking, 'Oh I'm tired. I'm older. I'm lethargic.'"
It was type 1.5 diabetes. Bass endured years of uncertainty, multiple doctor visits, and a completely incorrect diagnosis before anyone figured out what was actually happening inside his body.
The Wrong Diagnosis First
In 2019, his doctor told him he had pre-diabetes. Bass, by his own admission, did not take it seriously. "Me being stubborn as I am I was like, 'Yeah, sure right, whatever.'" Then the pandemic hit, and in February 2021, he learned he had diabetes, which his doctors initially called type 2. He changed his diet. He adjusted his medications. He reworked his workout routine. Nothing moved the needle. "Things just weren't adding up," Bass said in a video posted on Instagram.
Because they weren't. He did not have type 2 diabetes at all. "I recently discovered that I was misdiagnosed! I actually have type 1.5, also known as LADA or Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults," he explained on TikTok. "It has been quite the journey."
So What Is Type 1.5 Diabetes?
LADA is a type of diabetes that has characteristics of both type 1 and type 2, according to the Cleveland Clinic. It occurs because the body produces antibodies that attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Symptoms begin in adulthood and worsen gradually, which often leads to an incorrect type 2 diagnosis.
Patients with LADA remain asymptomatic for years until there is significant loss of beta cells. That slow progression is exactly what makes it so deceptively easy to miss. Type 1.5 diabetes is when the pancreas slowly stops producing insulin in adulthood, usually around age 40 — a description that fits Bass almost exactly.
The Symptoms That Get Ignored
The symptoms of type 1.5 are not subtle, in hindsight. But they are easy to explain away in real time, which is exactly what Bass did for years. People with high blood glucose levels typically experience fatigue, feeling thirsty, drinking a lot of water, and urinating more than usual. Sometimes they experience blurry vision and weight loss in severe forms.
And that is not all. Tingling in the hands or feet, itchy dry skin, and weakness that does not respond to sleep also show up. The problem is not that the symptoms are invisible. It is that they look like the symptoms of a hundred other things: dehydration, stress, aging, a bad week. And so people — smart, health-conscious people like Bass — keep explaining them away until something forces a deeper look.
The Misdiagnosis Problem Is Bigger Than You Think
Bass is not an outlier. A recent study suggests that as many as 14 percent of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes may actually have LADA. The fix is not complicated. C-peptide levels can guide the diagnosis and treatment of LADA, and checking for autoimmune antibodies is how LADA is confirmed. But those tests do not get ordered if nobody suspects LADA in the first place.
Distinguishing between LADA and type 2 diabetes is crucial, as treatment strategies differ and effective management helps prevent complications. Getting the wrong treatment does not just delay recovery; it can actively make things worse.
What Comes Next
There is no reversing LADA. Insulin is used to manage it, and it cannot be reversed. "It was a whole different ball game," Bass says. But since his correct diagnosis, he has been vocal about it. Bass has been raising awareness of type 1.5 on social media, saying, "I know there are millions of people going through this with their doctor where their doctor just didn't realize."
