In the news this week: Women with type 2 diabetes are more likely to have their lives cut short by the condition than men, according to research presented at the 2022 meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes. A new study finds COVID-19 substantially increased the risk of type 1 diabetes in children compared to other respiratory infections. And a study from Tufts University detailing the eating habits of adults and children in 185 countries over the past three decades concludes that globally, diets are not much healthier than they were 30 years ago.
Women with type 2 diabetes at higher risk for early death than men
People diagnosed with diabetes may wonder how it will affect their quality of life as well as if it will shorten their life expectancy, and for good reason. Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes are established risk factors for cardiovascular disease and early mortality.
Now, a new study from the U.K. finds that certain people with type 2 diabetes, including women, are at greater risk of early death than others with the condition.
The findings were presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes meeting held last week in Stockholm, Sweden.
The researchers examined data from nearly 12,000 patients (55% male, average age 66) with type 2 diabetes in Salford, England, over a 10-year period (2010 to 2020), and compared it to life expectancy figures for the general population by age and sex. They then looked at the effect of demographic and lifestyle factors on mortality rate and life expectancy of the individuals with type 2 diabetes.
A total of 3,921 of the participants died during the 10 years studied, compared to an expected 2,135 deaths based on mortality rates in the general population. This means that the risk of an early death was 84% higher in people with diabetes than in the general population.
The researchers also found that women with type 2 diabetes had a 60% increased risk of early death compared to their age- and sex-matched counterparts in the general population. Having type 2 diabetes was expected to reduce the life expectancy of the women in the study by an average of five years compared to women in the general population.
In men, having type 2 diabetes also increased the risk of premature death, but not by as much as in women (44%), and they lost an average 4.5 years from their expected life span versus 5.3 years for women.
Being a current or past smoker or having been diagnosed with diabetes before the age of 65 also cut life expectancy substantially among the study population.
“Our modeling suggests that type 2 diabetes has a greater effect on the life expectancy of women, smokers, and those diagnosed at a younger age,” study author Adrian Heald, MD, of Salford Royal Hospital in Salford, United Kingdom, said in a press release.
“It is vital that the groups at the highest risk are made aware of not just the increased risk that they face but also the size of the risk. Doing so may make the health advice they are given seem more relevant and so help them make changes that can improve their quality—and length—of life.”
COVID-19 increases likelihood of type 1 diabetes diagnosis in children
Children who are infected with COVID-19 are at a substantially higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes compared to children with non–COVID-19 respiratory infections, according to a cohort studypublished in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine assessed electronic health record data from nearly 1.1 million people 18 and younger who were diagnosed with a COVID-19 infection between March 2020 and December 2021 as well as electronic health data records from people 18 years or younger with another respiratory infection but not COVID-19 during the same period. The data came from the Global Collaborative Network, which includes 74 large health care organizations across the United States and 14 other countries.
The researchers found that in the six months after a COVID-19 infection, people under 18 were more likely to develop type 1 diabetes than their average counterpart who had a non-COVID-19 respiratory infection. By six months after their infection, 123 children (0.043%) who’d had COVID-19 had received a new diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, versus 72 children (0.025%) who had other respiratory infections. At one and three months after COVID-19 infection, the risk of diagnosis of type 1 diabetes was also greater than in those with non–COVID-19 infections. This was true in both older children (10-18) and younger kids (9 and under).
During the pandemic the incidence of new-onset type 1 diabetes increased in the United States. Currently, about 244,000 people under age 20 in the U.S. have type 1 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC previously reported that pediatric patients with COVID-19 were more likely to subsequently be diagnosed with diabetes, but the agency did not differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. (Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition, while type 2 is not.)
“Respiratory infections have previously been associated with onset of type 1 diabetes, but this risk was even higher among those with COVID-19 in our study, raising concern for long-term, post-COVID-19 autoimmune complications among youths,” the study authors wrote.
Globally, diets not much healthier than 30 years ago
Consumers may be reading food labels more closely than in the past and trying more widely available, alternative meat options, but are our diets really any better than in past decades? New research says: Not really.
Research from Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy finds that diet quality across the globe is only slightly better than it was 30 years ago. The goal of the study was to analyze the quality of diets around the world to understand how eating habits have changed since 1990, as well as to highlight challenges to healthy eating worldwide. This research can be used to set targets and invest in actions that encourage healthy eating, such as promoting meals made up of produce, seafood, and plant oils,the study authors wrote.
The results were published in the journal Nature Food.
Poor diet is a leading cause of disease worldwide, responsible for an estimated 26% of global preventable mortality.
For the comprehensive study, which included both children and adults, researchers investigated global, regional, and national eating habits and trends by age, sex, education, and degree of urbanization across 185 countries between 1990 and 2018. The data came from the Global Dietary Database, a large, collaborative compilation of data on dietary behavior in people worldwide.
Using the Alternative Healthy Eating Index, which assigns ratings to foods and nutrients that are predictive of chronic disease, the researchers ranked diets on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being a poor diet (filled with excessive sugar, salt, and processed meats) and 100 being a well-balanced diet (filled with fruits, vegetables, legumes/nuts, and whole grains).
The average score across countries was 40.3, a modest but meaningful gain of 1.5 since 1990. Only 10 countries, representing less than 1% of the world’s population, had scores over 50.
Countries with the highest nutrition scores were Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Iran. The lowest scoring countries were Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and Egypt.
On a positive note, more nutritious food options are becoming more popular in the United States, the study found.
“Intake of legumes/nuts and non-starchy vegetables increased over time, but overall improvements in dietary quality were offset by increased intake of unhealthy components such as red/processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, and sodium,” lead author Victoria Miller, a visiting scientist from McMaster University in Canada, said in a press release.
Globally, among adults, women were more likely to eat recommended diets than men, and older adults more so than younger adults.
Healthy eating was also heavily influenced by socioeconomic factors such as education level.
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