Life Expectancy For Type 1 Diabetes May Be Improving
On average, people with type 1 diabetes die 11 to 13 years earlier than people without the condition, according to a new study from Scotland. While the news may be disheartening for people with type 1 diabetes, the study’s senior researcher said the new results are more encouraging than previous estimates that found larger gaps in life expectancies. An important message is that the difference in life expectancy is narrowing, said Dr. Helen Colhoun of the University of Dundee School of Medicine in Scotland. “It’s not zero,” she said. “The goal is to get it to zero.” Among people with type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, the body’s immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Insulin removes sugar from the bloodstream so it can be used for energy. Instead, those people need to inject insulin and pay special attention to their blood sugar – or glucose – levels. Untreated, type 1 diabetes can lead to heart, blood vessel, kidney, eye, and nerve damage. About 29.1 million Americans have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 5 percent of those have type 1 diabetes. The researchers write in JAMA that according to earlier data from the U.K., people there with type 1 diabetes died an average of 15 to 20 years earlier than nondiabetics. A 1970s report put the decrease in life expectancy at 27 years for type 1 diabetics in the U.S., and a 1980s report from New Zealand put it at 16.5 years. “They’re mostly very old,” Colhoun said of the estimates. She said the correct information is important, because it shows how far care for type 1 diabetes has come. For the new study, the researchers used national data from Scotland on 24,691 people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes from 2008 to 2010. Continue reading >>
Former Facebook Engineer Dies Of Undiagnosed Type 1 Diabetes
Former Facebook Engineer Dies of Undiagnosed Type 1 Diabetes On September 26, 2017, former software engineer at Facebook, Michael Cohen, died suddenly at the age of 25 from undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes. At the time of his death, Cohen was a doctoral candidate at MIT. He passed away in Berkeley, California while attending a workshop at the UC Berkeley through the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing. It was believed that he had a stomach flu with symptoms of fatigue and vomiting, and missed nearly a week of the seminar, staying at a rented airbnb flat in Silicon Valley. When he couldnt be reached for several days, authorities were called and found Cohen. He was pronounced dead onsite. Cohens official cause of death was diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) from diabetes mellitus. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks the healthy insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. The cause is unknown, though there may be environmental or heredity triggers for the disease. As the beta cells are destroyed, insulin levels drop and blood sugar becomes elevated. Untreated, the person with Type 1 diabetes runs the risk of entering diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), a life-threatening condition that leads to diabetic coma and death. Essentially, when the body cant access sugar, it begins to break down muscle and fats, which release ketones into the body. Excessive ketones in the system destroys vital organs. Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms usually develop after ketone accumulation and represent the late manifestation of acidosis (ketone/acid accumulation in the body), explains Marina Basina, MD, a lead endocrinologist at Stanford University. Nausea and vomiting is typically present in up to 2/3 of patients in DKA. In individuals with no prior history of diabetes, Continue reading >>
Mortality In Childhood-onset Type 1 Diabetes
A population-based study Abstract OBJECTIVE—To describe the age- and sex-specific mortality in a cohort of young type 1 diabetic patients and to analyze the causes of death with special focus on suicide, accidents, and unexplained deaths. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—A population-based incident childhood diabetes register, covering onset cases since 1 July 1977, was linked to the Swedish Cause of Death Register up to 31 December 2000. The official Swedish population register was used to calculate age- and sex-standardized mortality rates (SMRs), excluding neonatal deaths. To analyze excess risks for specific diagnoses, case subjects were compared with five nondiabetic control subjects, matched by age, sex, and year of death. Death certificates were collected for all case and control subjects. For case subjects with an unclear diagnosis, hospital records and/or forensic autopsy reports were obtained. RESULTS—Mean age- and sex-SMR was 2.15 (95% CI 1.70–2.68) and tended to be higher among females (2.65 vs. 1.93, P = 0.045). Mean age at death was 15.2 years (range 1.2–27.3) and mean duration 8.2 years (0–20.7). Twenty-three deaths were clearly related to diabetes; 20 died of diabetic ketoacidosis. Only two case subjects died with late diabetes complications (acute coronary infarction). Thirty-three case subjects died with a diagnosis not directly related to diabetes; 7 of them committed suicide, and 14 died from accidents. There was no significant difference in traffic accidents (odds ratio 1.02 [95% CI 0.40–2.37]). Obvious suicide tended to be increased but not statistically significantly so (1.55 [0.54–3.89]). Seventeen diabetic case subjects were found deceased in bed without any cause of death found at forensic autopsy. Only two of the control subjects di Continue reading >>
Type 1 Diabetes May Cut Life Span, But Intensive Treatment Can Help Close The Gap
People with type 1 diabetes may have a shorter life expectancy than their peers, but intensive treatment may help offset that risk, say two separate new studies. In the first study, published in JAMA, Shona J. Livingstone of the University of Dundee in Scotland and her colleagues compared the life expectancy of Scottish men and women ages 20 and older who had type 1 diabetes to a group of adults without the condition. Life expectancy after age 20 was an additional 46.2 years among men with type 1 diabetes, but 57.3 years among men without the condition, an estimated loss of 11.1 years. Find the Best Diabetes Blogs of the Year » The life expectancy after age 20 for women with type 1 diabetes was an additional 48.1 years, compared to 61 years among women without it, an estimated loss of 12.9 years for women with diabetes. In the general population without type 1 diabetes, 76 percent of men and 83 percent of women lived to age 70, compared with 47 percent of men and 55 percent of women with type 1 diabetes. The study also showed that even patients with type 1 diabetes who still had good kidney function had reduced life expectancy. Heart Disease, Diabetic Comas Are Common Causes of Death Dr. Helen Colhoun, a professor of public health at the University of Dundee and a co-author of the study, told Healthline that heart disease, heart attacks, and diabetic comas were responsible for the largest percentage of the estimated loss in life expectancy for patients younger than 50. Colhoun said, “The data are good news for people with type 1 diabetes. They show much better average life expectancy than older reports from other countries. At the same time, they also show that further work needs to be done to get to a goal of no reduction in life span. These data emphasize that effo Continue reading >>
- Relative effectiveness of insulin pump treatment over multiple daily injections and structured education during flexible intensive insulin treatment for type 1 diabetes: cluster randomised trial (REPOSE)
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Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus In Children
What is type 1 diabetes? Diabetes is a condition in which the body can't make enough insulin, or can't use insulin normally. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder. The body's immune system damages the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. Insulin is a hormone. It helps sugar (glucose) in the blood get into cells of the body to be used as fuel. When glucose can’t enter the cells, it builds up in the blood. This is called high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). High blood sugar can cause problems all over the body. It can damage blood vessels and nerves. It can harm the eyes, kidneys, and heart. It can also cause symptoms such as tiredness. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a long-term (chronic) condition. It may start at any age. Only 5% of people with diabetes have type 1. Insulin from the pancreas must be replaced with insulin injections or an insulin pump. There are two forms of type 1 diabetes: Immune-mediated diabetes. This is an autoimmune disorder in which the body's immune system damages the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. This is the most common kind of type 1 diabetes. Idiopathic type 1. This refers to rare forms of the disease with no known cause. What causes type 1 diabetes? The cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown. Researchers think some people inherit a gene than can cause type 1 diabetes if a trigger such as a virus occurs. Who is at risk for type 1 diabetes? A child is more at risk for type 1 diabetes if he or she has any of these risk factors: A family member with the condition Caucasian race Being from Finland or Sardinia Is age 4 to 6, or 10 to 14 What are the symptoms of type 1 diabetes? Type 1 diabetes often appears suddenly. In children, type 1 diabetes symptoms may be like flu symptoms. Symptoms can occur a bit differently in each child. They Continue reading >>
Life Expectancy Gap Between Patients With Type 1 Diabetes And General Population Persists
Life Expectancy Gap Between Patients With Type 1 Diabetes and General Population Persists Life Expectancy Gap Between Patients With Type 1 Diabetes and General Population Persists Patients with type 1 diabetes are more likely to die earlier and live more years with disabilities. Although life expectancy has increased among patients with type 1 diabetes and the general population, those with the disease are still likely to live more years with disabilities and die earlier than people without diabetes.1,2,3,4 According to a study published in JAMA in 2015, the estimated loss of life expectancy in patients with type 1 diabetes at 20 years of age was approximately 11 years for men and 13 years for women, as compared with the general population without the disease.1 The findings were based on data from patients in Scotland from 2008 to 2010. Nevertheless, the researchers noted that their findings may not hold true for other nations or populations. An important question is whether our findings are generalizable internationally. This cannot be directly assessed because there are no large contemporary or historical nationally representative studies from other countries, Shana Livingston, MSc, of the University of Dundee in Scotland, and colleagues wrote, noting that contemporary larger scale data from other countries are needed. However, 2 recent studies published in Diabetologia, which examined life expectancy of patients with type 1 diabetes in Australia and Sweden, may offer a few answers to this question. In the first study, Lili Huo, MD, and Dianna Magliano, PhD, both from Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia, derived mortality rates of Australians with type 1 diabetes listed on the National Diabetes Services Scheme between 1997 and 2010 (n=85 54 Continue reading >>
Living Longer With Diabetes: Type 1
When you’re diagnosed with diabetes, you may wonder, “Is this going to kill me? How long can I live with this?” These are scary questions. Fortunately, the answers have gotten better. This article is about living longer with Type 1. Next week will be about Type 2. History of life with Type 1 In Type 1, the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed. Before insulin was discovered and made injectable, Type 1 diabetes usually killed children within months, or even days. The only treatment known to medicine was going on a low-carb, high-fat and -protein diet. People might live a few years that way. According to the website Defeat Diabetes, “In 1897, the average life expectancy for a 10-year-old child with diabetes was about one year. Diagnosis at age 30 carried a life expectancy of about four years. A newly diagnosed 50-year-old might live eight more years.” (Probably, those 50-year-olds really had Type 2.) In the 1920s, insulin was discovered and became available for use. Life expectancy with Type 1 went up dramatically. But when I started nursing in the 1970s, it was still common for people with Type 1 to die before age 50. With better insulins, home testing, and lower-carbohydrate diets, people live longer. A study from the University of Pittsburgh, published in 2012, found that people with Type 1 diabetes born after 1965 had a life expectancy of 69 years. This compares to a life expectancy at birth of roughly 76 years for men and 81 years for women in the general population in the U.S. A new study of about 25,000 people with Type 1 in Scotland found that men with Type 1 diabetes lose about 11 years of life expectancy, and women about 13 years compared to those without the disease. According to WebMD, “Heart disease accounted for the most lost Continue reading >>
Why Do Some Patients With Type 1 Diabetes Live So Long?
Go to: Abstract While the lifespan of people with type 1 diabetes has increased progressively since the advent of insulin therapy, these patients still experience premature mortality, primarily from cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, a subgroup of those with type 1 diabetes survives well into old age without significant morbidity. It is the purpose of this review to explore the factors which may help in identifying these patients. It might be expected that hyperglycaemia plays a major role in explaining the increased incidence of CVD and mortality of these individuals. However, while a number of publications have associated poor long term glycaemic control with an increase in both all-cause mortality and CVD in those with type 1 diabetes, it is apparent that good glycaemic control alone cannot explain why some patients with type 1 diabetes avoid fatal CVD events. Lipid disorders may occur in those with type 1 diabetes, but the occurrence of elevated high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol is positively associated with longevity in this population. Non-renal hypertension, by itself is a significant risk factor for CVD but if adequately treated does not appear to mitigate against longevity. However, the presence of nephropathy is a major risk factor and its absence after 15-20 years of diabetes appears to be a marker of long-term survival. One of the major factors linked with long-term survival is the absence of features of the metabolic syndrome and more specifically the presence of insulin sensitivity. Genetic factors also play a role, with a family history of longevity and an absence of type 2 diabetes and hypertension in the family being important considerations. There is thus a complex interaction between multiple risk factors in determining which patients with type Continue reading >>
Life Expectancy For Type 1 Diabetes May Be Improving
(Reuters Health) - On average, people with type 1 diabetes die 11 to 13 years earlier than people without the condition, according to a new study from Scotland. While the news may be disheartening for people with type 1 diabetes, the study’s senior researcher said the new results are more encouraging than previous estimates that found larger gaps in life expectancies. An important message is that the difference in life expectancy is narrowing, said Dr. Helen Colhoun of the University of Dundee School of Medicine in Scotland. “It’s not zero,” she said. “The goal is to get it to zero.” Among people with type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, the body’s immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Insulin removes sugar from the bloodstream so it can be used for energy. Instead, those people need to inject insulin and pay special attention to their blood sugar – or glucose – levels. Untreated, type 1 diabetes can lead to heart, blood vessel, kidney, eye, and nerve damage. About 29.1 million Americans have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 5 percent of those have type 1 diabetes. The researchers write in JAMA that according to earlier data from the U.K., people there with type 1 diabetes died an average of 15 to 20 years earlier than nondiabetics. A 1970s report put the decrease in life expectancy at 27 years for type 1 diabetics in the U.S., and a 1980s report from New Zealand put it at 16.5 years. “They’re mostly very old,” Colhoun said of the estimates. She said the correct information is important, because it shows how far care for type 1 diabetes has come. For the new study, the researchers used national data from Scotland on 24,691 people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes Continue reading >>
People With Type 1 Diabetes Are Living Longer
Better blood sugar control may be the key to longer survival Ninety years ago, type 1 diabetes was a death sentence: half of people who developed it died within two years; more than 90% were dead within five years. Thanks to the introduction of insulin therapy in 1922, and numerous advances since then, many people with type 1 diabetes now live into their 50s and beyond. But survival in this group still falls short of that among people without diabetes. A Scottish study published this week in JAMA shows that at the age of 20, individuals with type 1 diabetes on average lived 12 fewer years than 20-year-olds without it. A second study in the same issue of JAMA showed that people with type 1 diabetes with better blood sugar control lived longer than those with poorer blood sugar control. Types of diabetes There are three main types of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys cells in the pancreas that make insulin. This usually happens before age 20. Insulin is needed to get blood sugar (glucose) into cells for energy. Without insulin, glucose builds up in the bloodstream. This damages cells and tissues throughout the body. People who develop type 1 diabetes need to take insulin via shots or a pump for life. Type 2 diabetes tends to occur later in life, usually among individuals who are overweight or inactive. It accounts for about 90% of all diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes often make enough insulin, at least at first, but their cells don’t respond to it. As with type 1 diabetes, glucose builds up in the bloodstream, damaging cells and tissues throughout the body. Type 2 diabetes is initially treated with lifestyle changes such as weight loss, more exercise, and a healthier diet. Medications that make the Continue reading >>
Diabetes Life Expectancy
Tweet After diabetes diagnosis, many type 1 and type 2 diabetics worry about their life expectancy. Death is never a pleasant subject but it's human nature to want to know 'how long can I expect to live'. There is no hard and fast answer to the question of ‘how long can I expect to live’ as a number of factors influence one’s life expectancy. How soon diabetes was diagnosed, the progress of diabetic complications and whether one has other existing conditions will all contribute to one’s life expectancy - regardless of whether the person in question has type 1 or type 2 diabetes. How long can people with diabetes expect to live? Diabetes UK estimates in its report, Diabetes in the UK 2010: Key Statistics on Diabetes[5], that the life expectancy of someone with type 2 diabetes is likely to be reduced, as a result of the condition, by up to 10 years. People with type 1 diabetes have traditionally lived shorter lives, with life expectancy having been quoted as being reduced by over 20 years. However, improvement in diabetes care in recent decades indicates that people with type 1 diabetes are now living significantly longer. Results of a 30 year study by the University of Pittsburgh, published in 2012, noted that people with type 1 diabetes born after 1965 had a life expectancy of 69 years.[76] How does diabetic life expectancy compare with people in general? The Office for National Statistics estimates life expectancy amongst new births to be: 77 years for males 81 years for females. Amongst those who are currently 65 years old, the average man can expect to live until 83 years old and the average woman to live until 85 years old. What causes a shorter life expectancy in diabetics? Higher blood sugars over a period of time allow diabetic complications to set in, su Continue reading >>
Improvements In The Life Expectancy Of Type 1 Diabetes
Survival in type 1 diabetes has improved, but the impact on life expectancy in the U.S. type 1 diabetes population is not well established. Our objective was to estimate the life expectancy of the Pittsburgh Epidemiology of Diabetes Complications (EDC) study cohort and quantify improvements by comparing two subcohorts based on year of diabetes diagnosis (1950–1964 [n = 390] vs. 1965–1980 [n = 543]). The EDC study is a prospective cohort study of 933 participants with childhood-onset (aged <17 years) type 1 diabetes diagnosed at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh from 1950 to 1980. Mortality ascertainment was censored 31 December 2009. Abridged cohort life tables were constructed to calculate life expectancy. Death occurred in 237 (60.8%) of the 1950–1964 subcohort compared with 88 (16.2%) of the 1965–1980 subcohort. The life expectancy at birth for those diagnosed 1965–1980 was ∼15 years greater than participants diagnosed 1950–1964 (68.8 [95% CI 64.7–72.8] vs. 53.4 [50.8–56.0] years, respectively) (P < 0.0001); this difference persisted regardless of sex or pubertal status at diagnosis. This improvement in life expectancy emphasizes the need for insurance companies to update analysis of the life expectancy of those with childhood-onset type 1 diabetes because weighting of insurance premiums is based on outdated estimates. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The Pittsburgh EDC study is a prospective cohort study of childhood-onset (age <17 years) type 1 diabetes. All participants were diagnosed or seen within 1 year of diagnosis at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh between 1950 and 1980. Potential participants were identified using hospital records and were considered eligible for the study if the record noted a clinical diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. The co Continue reading >>
Life Expectancy 'not Reduced' By Intensive Type 1 Diabetes Treatment
Although the recommended standard of care, it has yet to be established whether intensive diabetes therapy affects mortality in type 1 diabetes patients. A new study, however, has found an association between intensive treatment and a modestly lower all-cause rate of death. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, PA, followed type 1 diabetes patients for an average of 27 years. Among these patients, receiving intensive treatment with the aim of reducing blood sugar levels to a nondiabetic range was linked to a slight reduction in mortality compared with conventional treatment. While the effect of intensive diabetes therapy on the mortality of people with type 1 diabetes had not been established, previous research has found that the reduction of blood sugar toward the nondiabetic range in type 2 diabetes patients does not consistently lead to a reduction in mortality. Type 1 diabetes is a condition whereby the body does not produce the insulin required to convert sugars, starches and other foods into energy. With type 2 diabetes, the body does not utilize the insulin that is produced properly - also referred to as insulin resistance. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), 29.1 million Americans - around 9.3% of the population - had diabetes in 2012. This figure had increased from 25.8 million (8.3%) in 2010. Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the US. Other research suggests that type 1 diabetes patients may have shorter life expectancies than the general population. A recent Scottish population study, published in JAMA, reports that men with type 1 diabetes have an average life expectancy 11 years lower than the general public. Women with type 1 diabetes at the same age have a life expectancy 13 years lower than the general average. Inten Continue reading >>
- Relative effectiveness of insulin pump treatment over multiple daily injections and structured education during flexible intensive insulin treatment for type 1 diabetes: cluster randomised trial (REPOSE)
- Can You Die from Diabetes? Type 1 and Type 2 Life Expectancy
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Life Expectancy Increases For People With Type 1
An Australian study finds people with Type 1 are living longer, but not as long as the average population. A new study on life expectancy and Type 1 diabetes has brought results that can be seen as glass half-empty or glass half-full. The bad news is that life expectancy for people with Type 1 is still shorter than that of the average population; the good news is that people with Type 1 are living longer than ever before. For the study, Australian researchers used government data to measure the life expectancy of people with Type 1 from 1997 to 2010, according to a report in Diabetes in Control. By the end of the study period, men with Type 1 had gained an average of 1.9 years in life expectancy, while women with Type 1 had gained 1.5 years in the same time period. People with Type 1 still had a life expectancy that was 12 years shorter, on average, than that of the average population, however. Researchers attribute the gains in lifespan to rapid medical advances, emerging research, and deepening understanding of Type 1 diabetes. When it comes to children with Type 1, more children are being diagnosed earlier, and intensive insulin therapy is beginning at a younger age to get blood sugar levels under control. Also, insulin pump and blood sugar monitoring technology has improved greatly in the 21st century, creating the possibility for better long-term blood sugar control. With the promise of the development of new therapeutic techniques and smarter pumps, there’s hope that the gap in life expectancy between those with and without Type 1 can continue to close. Thanks for reading this Insulin Nation article. Want more Type 1 news? Subscribe here. Have Type 2 diabetes or know someone who does? Try Type 2 Nation, our sister publication. Continue reading >>
Life Expectancy For Type 1 Diabetes
New study shows recent improvement in years of life lost. With minimal studies to evaluate the impact of type 1 diabetes on life expectancy, studies have been developed to retrospectively look at the effects of diabetes on mortality. Diabetes was also compared to other disease states and causes that had an influence on years of life lost (YLL). The YLL of patients with type 1 diabetes and patients with other disease states were compared to those of the general healthy population. This autoimmune disorder accounts for 10% of all Americans diagnosed with diabetes, and the ability to prevent the development of type 1 diabetes is minimal. Causes have been linked to genetics, and viral infections such as mumps, rubella, cytomegalovirus, measles, influenza, encephalitis, polio, or Epstein-Barr virus. In a study conducted on Australians with type 1 diabetes between the years of 1997 and 2010, researchers looked at the estimated YLL of the type 1 diabetic patients compared to the general public. Researchers used the Chiang method to estimate life expectancy and Arriaga’s method to estimate the impact of age-specific and cause-specific mortalities. Results showed no disparity in terms of YLL from type 1 diabetes in women vs. men. When the YLL was organized into two groups, 1997-2003 and 2004-2010, the 2004-2010 groups showed improvement in life expectancies of 1.9 years in men and 1.5 years in women. Overall, over the time period of the study, patients with type 1 diabetes had a life expectancy of 12.2 years less than the general population. The majority of the YLL was attributed to endocrine and metabolic diseases that occurred between the ages of 10-39, and circulatory diseases that occurred after the age of 40. Medical advances over the years may account for the YLL improve Continue reading >>
