Age at Type 2 Diabetes Diagnosis May Affect Mortality Risk || Study links early type 2 diabetes diagnosis, heart disease and stroke risk

Researchers maintain an early type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnosis carries a higher risk of heart disease and stroke death, but a lower risk of death from cancer.

Results of the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Australia, probe published in Diabetologia detailed data analysis of 743,709 Australians with T2D who were registered on Australia’s National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) over a 15-year period between 1997 and 2011, with the average age at T2D diagnosis being 59 years and a total of 115,363 deaths occurring during the study period.

“An earlier diagnosis of type 2 diabetes — and thus a longer duration of disease — was associated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality, primarily driven by cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality,” the authors wrote. “Evidence is accumulating to suggest that earlier onset of type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of complications and comorbidities compared with later onset and that the development and progression of complications might be more aggressive in those with earlier onset.”

Investigators said for mortality due to cancer, earlier diagnosis of type 2 diabetes was associated with lower mortality compared with diagnosis at an older age.

The authors noted it is possible following a diagnosis of diabetes patients have more frequent contact with the healthcare system, which may increase the likelihood of any present but undiagnosed cancer being detected.

Researchers maintain an early type 2 diabetes (T2D) diagnosis carries a higher risk of heart disease and stroke death, but a lower risk of death from cancer.

HealthDay News — Younger onset of type 2 diabetes is associated with increased mortality risk, mainly due to cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, according to a study published in Diabetologia.

Lili Huo, MD, from Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, and colleagues examined data from 743,709 Australians with type 2 diabetes who were registered on the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS) between 1997 and 2011. By linking the NDSS to the National Death Index, mortality data were derived; all-cause mortality and mortality due to CVD, cancer, and other causes were identified.

The researchers found that there were 115,363 deaths during 7.20 million person-years of follow-up. The rates of all-cause and cancer mortality declined and CVD mortality was constant during the first 1.8 years after diabetes diagnosis.