Death Rates for Diabetic Women Holding Steady Despite Decrease for Men
According to a recent press release from the American College of Physicians, the death rate for men with diabetes has declined significantly in the period from 1971 to 2000, but that for women didn’t change a bit even though the overall death rate for all Americans went down.
“The improvements seen in men suggest that the improvements in diabetes care are working on longevity as well,” said [Edward W. Gregg, PhD]. “But the finding in women is concerning and means we may need to explore whether different approaches are needed to improve health outcomes for women with diabetes.”
Study authors looked at data from 20,000 people, aged 35 to 74, in one of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) I, II, and III and followed participants for up to 12 years to see who was still living and who died.
Researchers found that the death rates from all causes in men with diabetes fell steeply from 42.6 to 24.4 annual deaths per 1,000 people, a 43 percent relative reduction in age-adjusted death rate, while the death rate from cardiovascular disease (CVD), the most common cause of death in people with diabetes, fell from 26.4 to 12.8. In the same period, neither the all-cause nor CVD death rate for women with diabetes declined.
Overall, Americans live longer today than 35 years ago. The study showed that the overall death rate for people who did not have diabetes fell from 14.4 to 9.5 annual deaths per 1,000 people. When the authors analyzed the data by sex and by diabetes status, the startling difference in women with and without diabetes appeared.
Click here to read the whole report from ACP.
Tags: American-College-of-Physicians, death-rate, Diabetes, woman, women, Womens-HealthRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Diabetes, Women's Issues
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3 opinions for Death Rates for Diabetic Women Holding Steady Despite Decrease for Men
melissa
Sep 7, 2007 at 5:02 pm
I know of a lot of women who have successfully lived their lives with great health. I really hope that more women can do the same. I would like to see the rate go down next year.
melissa
Sep 10, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Just as a follow up, there is a great resource that I found here:
http://diabetesdoneright.com/, which has helped numerous amounts of women living with diabetes.
8 Reasons to Exercise for 30 Minutes a Day
Jan 21, 2008 at 7:12 pm
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