Diabetes = Dying 6 Years Earlier

Diabetes is not kind to the body but can it kill you?  After all, high sugars can cause blindness, kidney failure, amputations, heart attacks & strokes (any of which might make you wish you were dead).  Well, in a study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, the authors reviewed the cause of death in 123,205 persons out of 820, 900 participants in 97 trials, and after excluding those w/baseline vascular disease & adjusting for age, sex, tobacco use, and body mass index, they concluded that diabetes more than doubled one's risk of death from vascular causes, eg heart attacks, strokes & peripheral vascular disease, compared to those without diabetes.

While the increase in vascular risk was expected (though perhaps not the extent), I was surprised to find that diabetes also increased all-cause mortality by 80% compared to those without diabetes.  Furthermore, diabetics had a 25% greater risk of dying from liver, pancreas, ovary, colorectum, lung, bladder, and breast cancer compared to their non-diabetic brethen.  

Even after adjusting for blood pressure, cholesterol, inflammation & kidney function, diabetics had a great chance of dying from kidney disease, liver disease & other digestive disorders, pneumonia & other infectious diseases, mental & nervous system disorders, intentional self-harm, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  

After running through all the statistics, the authors concluded that a 50 year old man w/diabetes would live 6 years less than his counterpart without diabetes.  So go find out your fasting glucose because every 18mg/dL above 100mg/dL was associated with 10% higher risk of death from any cause, eg all-cause mortality, the Holy Grail of outcome studies.  Every 18mg/dL above 100mg/dL increased cancer deaths by 5%, vascular deaths by 13%, and other causes of death by 10%.  

The take-home point?  Do whatever you can to avoid developing diabetes.  Change your eating habits & your level of physical activity.  Get rid of that paunch.  Work with your family physician so that you can live a long & fulfilling life.