Diabetes and Shortened Lifespan

[Guest guest]

If anyone is having problems with their PCP for referrals, etc. - here's an

article to get them into the 21st century!

all the best,

lap ds with gallbladder removal

January 25, 2001

four months post-op and still feein' fab!

Diabetes shortens lifespan radically, study shows

By Reaney

LONDON, June 8 (Reuters) - Diabetes sufferers die much younger than people

without the disease, regardless of age, sex or affluence, scientists said on

Friday.

Researchers at Middlesbrough General Hospital in northern England who studied

more than 4,800 diabetics said the decrease in life expectancy was most

pronounced in people with Type 1 diabetes, the more serious form.

But even people diagnosed with the more common Type 2, or adult-onset

diabetes, before the age of 40 could expect to die eight years earlier than

healthy contemporaries.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the body does not produce

enough insulin to regulate sugar in the bloodstream, or when it cannot use

insulin efficiently.

" The main reason they die is because of heart disease, " Nick Roper, of the

Diabetes Care Centre at the hospital, said in a telephone interview.

" There is a major problem, particularly in terms of premature heart disease,

but treatments exist and they need to be put into practice in the areas where

they are needed most, " he added.

Stopping smoking, exercise, a healthy diet, cholesterol reduction, blood

pressure control and aspirin treatments have all been shown to be highly

effective in preventing heart disease and stroke.

MORTALITY TWICE THE AVERAGE

In a study in the British Medical Journal, the researchers compared the

number and causes of deaths among diabetics in one of the poorest areas of

England with the general population in the same area over a six-year period.

Over a quarter of the diabetics died during the study, an overall mortality

about 2.2 times the national average. The number of deaths increased from 1.3

times the national average in affluent districts to 2.3 times in the poorest

sections.

Type 1 diabetics account for about 10-25 percent of cases worldwide. Without

daily insulin, patients with low blood sugar levels can slip into a coma.

High levels of insulin can lead to blindness, heart disease, stroke, kidney

problems and nerve damage.

Type 2 is a milder condition that can be treated by using diet, exercise or

drugs to stimulate the secretion of insulin. Roper said Type 2 diabetes was

more common among lower economic classes.

" There is evidence that it is more prevalent the more deprived you are, " he

added.

Diabetes affects 130 million people worldwide and kills 2.8 million a year.

Experts estimate the number of sufferers will increase to 220 million by the

year 2010.

In an editorial in the journal, Gareth of University Hospital

Aintree in Liverpool, said the research carried grim warnings about diabetes.

" The study was meticulous in design and conservative in assumptions; if

anything, the damage done by both diabetes and poverty was probably

underestimated, " he said.

06:29 06-08-01