Recent UK Study: Diabetes Hastens the Onset of Health Conditions That Reduce Life Expectancy
It’s common knowledge in the diabetes community that the condition we live with can lead to some related severe health complications, including cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, and mental health concerns.
A group of researchers in the United Kingdom recently published sobering findings regarding how much earlier these conditions may happen in those with diabetes and how it impacts life expectancy.
It’s common sense that having more than one diabetes-related comorbidity would have a more significant negative impact on health than just living with one condition. Of course, this would hold true for anyone – diabetic or not –and there are certainly a lot of people out there who do not have diabetes and, yet, are living with what is referred to as Multiple Long-Term Conditions (MTLCs).
The study, published in August 2024 in the journal Nature Medicine, was an exhaustive research project that identified how having diabetes might accelerate the development of multiple long-term conditions and how earlier development of these health concerns might take years off of a person’s life.
A Detailed Study With Nearly 47 Million Participants
The research pulled data from 15 separate sources and included all individuals registered with a general practitioner in England since 2014. This added up to a very diverse population of participants totaling 46,748,714 adults aged 20 and older. Of this group, 3,663,429—just under 8%—had been diagnosed with some form of diabetes.
Researchers examined 34 comorbid conditions across all participants to determine diabetes-related MLTC prevalence, and the results were eye-opening.
At just 50 years of age, about one-third of the adults with diabetes had already developed at least three severe MLTCs, while multiple long-term conditions weren’t seen in the general population until the ages of 65 to 70.
This indicates that living with diabetes led to a 15 to 20-year acceleration in the development of these serious MLTCs, which correlates to a significantly shorter life expectancy.
What Do These New Findings Mean For You?
As a person living with diabetes, they mean that managing your disease and keeping your blood sugar within the target range your physician sets for you is essential. The most important way you can mitigate your risk of developing diabetes-related complications is to avoid prolonged periods of high blood sugar.
Test your blood sugar daily with a glucose meter and test strips or a doctor-prescribed continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) device.
- Follow your diabetes treatment and medication plan, including insulin injections and oral medications.
- If you are overweight, take steps to shed those excess pounds.
- Eat a healthy diet and get in at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week, as recommended by the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
If you are having difficulty managing your blood sugar or are experiencing frequent spikes or drops, you must meet with your diabetes physician and care team to find ways to bring things back under control. The longer your diabetes is not being adequately managed, the greater your risk of developing severe complications, and the sooner they are likely to show up.
These Findings and Diabetes Care in General
Though this study was done in the UK, the results can certainly be applied to our healthcare system in the United States. The burden of properly caring for a growing population of people living with diabetes who may also face MLTCs will surely put further strain on a system that is already feeling the squeeze.
Knowing more about the risk factors surrounding diabetes and MLTCs, however, may help inform healthcare responses and lead to new and more effective prevention strategies that will help those with diabetes live longer and better lives while also helping to manage the associated costs.
FAQs
What are MLTCs?
The acronym stands for Multiple Long-Term Conditions and refers to chronic health conditions that must be managed and treated for years, possibly for life. In terms of diabetes, these include related conditions such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, eye conditions, and cancer, as well as mental health concerns such as depression.
How Can I Minimize My Risk of MLTCs?
As a person living with diabetes, the most important thing you can do to minimize your risk of any diabetes-related complication is to keep your blood sugar under control and in the target range. If you find maintaining proper blood sugar levels challenging, notify your doctor and care team. A few minor adjustments to your diabetes treatment program will likely solve the problem.
Why Do People with Diabetes Develop MLTCs Earlier?
As with most complications related to diabetes, the accelerated development of MLTCs is likely related to prolonged high blood sugar, often compounded by other chronic health concerns associated with diabetes, such as obesity.
Do you have any insights about diabetes management you’d like to share with our readers? Please do so in the comment section below. Thank you, and stay healthy.
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