Death is said never to be a pleasant subject. Despite this, humans are always wont to ask ‘how long can I expect to live’? A germane question that needs be asked by individuals living with diabetes and those that care for them is “what is the impact of diabetes on the life span?”
According to a year 2015 scientific report in the Journal of American Medical Association by Dr. Helen Colhoun and co-workers, ‘men with type 1 diabetes lose about 11 years of life expectancy compared to men without the disease. And, women with type 1 diabetes have their lives cut short by about 13 years’. ‘It is important to stress that these are averages,” said Colhoun. “Some people with type 1 diabetes will achieve a very long life expectancy and some people will have a short life expectancy’.
This reduction in life expectancy may be seen as a disaster for those with Type 1 diabetes, but if this report is compared to what used to obtain before the discovery of insulin nearly a hundred years ago, which was certain death within a few days or weeks after the diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes, then it will be obvious that some progress has been made. In that bygone era, 90% of people with a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes will have been dead after five years of diagnosis.
Ischaemic heart disease is heart disease due to reduction in blood flow to the heart as a result of narrowing or blockage of the small arteries that supply blood to the heart itself by the process called atherosclerosis in which the arteries become hard and stiff with narrowing of its caliber due to cholesterol deposits. The symptoms of ischaemic heart disease include chest pain that occurs with activity or after meals and gets better with rest. The chest pain may radiate to the shoulder, arm, back, neck or jaw.
A second scientific study, also in the same journal, suggested that some of these early deaths might be avoided with intensive blood sugar management which involves conducting multiple blood glucose tests throughout the day and constantly adjusting insulin levels to hit very specific blood sugar levels.
A co-author of this paper, Dr. Samuel Dagogo-Jack opined that “Across the board, individuals who had better glucose control due to intensive therapy had increased survival”. Strict control of blood sugar appears to be key. Researchers observed a 44 percent reduction in overall risk of death for every 10 percent reduction in a patient’s haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) which is a test used to determine a person’s average blood sugar levels over the prior three months.
Poorly controlled blood sugar levels which allow complications such as eye damage, kidney disease and heart disease to supervene is responsible for this increased mortality.
Poorly controlled blood sugar levels are also known as the harbinger of high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol level which both help to contribute to poor circulation and further the damage to organs such as the heart, kidneys, eyes and nerves in particular. Short term complications such as hypoglycaemia and diabetic ketoacidosis are also known to be rapidly fatal.
Maintaining good blood glucose control is a key way to prolong the length of your life. Keeping blood sugar levels within the recommended blood glucose level ranges will help to offset the likelihood of the complications and therefore increase life expectancy. The better your diabetes is managed, the longer a life you’ll likely enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment