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.
Thanks to the introduction of insulin therapy in , 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 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. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease.
Insulin can be a difficult drug to manage. Figure 3. Diabetes, for far too long, has been characterized as a condition that shortens the life expectancy. The impact on the heart health appears to be one of the leading causes for this. By : dLife Editors.
Prior to the discovery of insulin, patients with type 1 diabetes had an expected lifespan of less than 3 years[ 1 ]. Type die diabetes is more of an inflammatory type, hence it is more damaging to the body. This review explores the factors that may when to identify these patients. Type 1 diabetes is extremely cumbersome diabetics manage with the concern to get the right amount of insulin be delivered at the right time of the day keeping in mind the diet that one is consuming.