Till now, diabetes was thought to be affecting the body organs like liver, but for the first it has been proved that diabetes can even reduce one’s life expectancy. If you are diagnosed as diabetic after 50, chances are that you may lose about eight years from your expected lifespan.
The Framingham Heart Study was conducted by the researchers of the University Medical Centre, Rotterdam (Netherlands), and Unilever Corporate Research, Sharnbrook (UK). It was found that on an average a diabetic male who is aged 50 or more lived 7.5 years less than those who were non diabetics. For females the loss of years in their life was 8.2.
In India some 46 million people suffer from diabetics and this is also the highest number of diabetics in the world according to WHO. From these 46 million, 60% are above 50 years of age. By 2030, the number of diabetic patients will rise and reach 80 million.
The study’s main author was Dr Oscar H Franco. He collected data from 5,200 US men and women who were in the age group of 28-62 years, recruited between 1948 and 1951 and followed for more than 46 years. They were supervised till they developed heart disease or died. The researchers were also noting whether they were diabetic or not.
The results of this data showed that women who were diabetic were double prone to heart ailments than non-diabetic women. Also diabetic women were twice as likely to die in comparison with non- diabetic women.
On the other hand the diabetic men were twice at the risk of having heart problems than non-diabetic men and were at 1.7 times higher risk of dying if they developed heart ailment.
Source:timeofindia
