Diabetes can cause many health problems, especially in men.
- Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by excess sugar in the blood.
- Similar in men and women, the global prevalence of diabetes is expected to reach 783 million patients by 2045.
- A new study indicates that men with diabetes are more likely to develop complications than women suffering from the same condition.
According to a new study published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Healthmen are more exposed than women to the main negative health effects of diabetes.
Diabetes: Men are 51% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease
After 10 years of follow-up, the research authors found that 44% of the men included in their cohort had suffered from a cardiovascular complication, and 57% from ocular complications. 25% of participants also had complications in the legs or feet, and 35% in the kidneys. The equivalent figures for women were 31%, 61%, 18% and 25% respectively.
Overall, men were 51% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than women, 47% more likely to have leg or foot complications, and 55% more likely to have kidney complications.
Although there was little difference between the sexes in overall risk of eye complications, men had a slightly higher risk (14%) of diabetic retinopathy.
Diabetes: “the risks of complications remain high in women”
“Even if the risks of complications are lower in diabetic women, they remain high,” underline the authors of the survey.
According to them, their results support “the need for targeted screening for diabetes-related complications”.
“Further research into the mechanisms underlying observed gender differences in diabetes complications is needed in order to implement targeted interventions,” they conclude.
Diabetes: symptoms and prevalence
Similar in men and women, the global prevalence of diabetes is expected to reach 783 million patients by 2045.
Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by excess sugar in the blood. There are 2 main types of diabetes due to different dysfunctions: type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes.
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes are:
- an increased need to urinate;
- increased thirst;
- an unexplained decrease in weight while appetite increases;
- tiredness ;
- itching in the genitals;
- very slow healing of a wound;
- blurred vision;
- more frequent infections.
The symptoms of type 1 diabetes are:
- an increased need to urinate;
- copious urine (polyuria);
- increased thirst (polydipsia);
- weight loss despite an increasing appetite;
- significant fatigue;
- blurred vision.
