Since it only affects 10% of people with diabetes, type 1 diabetes is often more ignored than type 2. However, this disease, characterized by the loss of certain cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, greatly reduces life expectancy. A recent Scottish study has shown that a young woman of 20 years affected by this pathology would have 13 years less to live (and a man 11 years younger) than someone without diabetes.
The first study on the impact of sex on mortality
This time, it is a meta-analysis, that is to say the analysis of several already existing studies, covering everything that has been published on the subject between 1966 and 2012, which allowed a team to Australian researchers from the University of Brisbane led by Prof. Rachel Bruxley, say that type 1 diabetes is actually more deadly in women than in men. This is, according to the researchers, the first meta-analysis on the impact of gender on mortality in type 1 diabetes.
According to this meta-analysis, women have a 37% higher risk of dying compared to men. This risk is even more marked for deaths linked to kidney disease (+ 44%) or cardiovascular disease (+ 86%). According to Prof. Bruxley, this risk of fatal complications is mainly due to the fact that women have more problems stabilizing their blood sugar. For fear of gaining weight, they often have the temptation to underdose their insulin. However, poorly controlled blood sugar is known to be an important cardiovascular risk factor.
Read also :
Diabetes: bad sleepers more at risk
Diabetes: what complications?
