A recent study by U of T researchers shows that the life expectancy of diabetics is significantly shortened. Diabetics live an average of 12 years fewer than non-diabetics.
This study was co-authored by Dr. Douglas G. Manuel, and Susan E. Schultz of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). The research was based on data from a 1996-1997 Ontario Health Survey (OHS II) and the National Population Health Survey (NPHS).
“We studied diabetes because it’s affecting more and more people,” says Schultz. “It’s an important disease because it affects a lot of Ontarians. [There are] a lot of complications, a whole range of effects, not just on the life expectancy, but on their quality of life as well.”
Manuel and Schultz state that in Ontario, the life expectancy for women diagnosed with diabetes was an average of 71 years, and 65 for men. This was a drastic change from the normal life expectancy of 83 for women and 78 for men.
When asked what was the most surprising aspect of the research, Schultz answers, “The magnitude of the reduction of the life expectancy-we didn’t expect it to be that large. That’s from all causes, not just diabetes related.”
Those who recovered from diabetes show an increase in life expectancy by 2.6 for women and 2.8 for men.
Manuel, a professor at the Department of Public Health Sciences at U of T and the ICES, also mentioned that this method of research might also be applied to heart disease and other health conditions.
There were no previous studies done on this issue for Ontario. This research was part of an ongoing goal for the ICES to evaluate the health impact of interventions such as diseases and lifestyle habits.
This study was published in the February issue of Diabetes Care.
