Re: Diabetes cuts 8 years off life

"Robert Miles" <robertmiles@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in part:

An article on diabetes (probably poorly controlled)
cutting 8 years off life:

http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=605456

Here is the abstract, followed by my comments:

Associations of Diabetes Mellitus With Total Life Expectancy and Life
Expectancy With and Without Cardiovascular Disease
Oscar H. Franco, MD, DSc, PhD; Ewout W. Steyerberg, PhD; Frank B. Hu, MD,
PhD; Johan Mackenbach, MD, PhD; Wilma Nusselder, PhD


Arch Intern Med. 2007;167:1145-1151.

Background Diabetes mellitus is a recognized risk factor for cardiovascular
disease (CVD) and mortality. However, limited information exists on the
association of diabetes with life expectancy with and without CVD. We aimed
to calculate the association of diabetes after age 50 years with life
expectancy and the number of years lived with and without CVD.

Methods Using data from the Framingham Heart Study, we built life tables to
calculate the associations of having diabetes with life expectancy and years
lived with and without CVD among populations 50 years and older. For the
life table calculations, we used hazard ratios for 3 transitions (healthy to
death, healthy to CVD, and CVD to death), stratifying by the presence of
diabetes at baseline and adjusting for age and confounders.

Results Having diabetes significantly increased the risk of developing CVD
(hazard ratio, 2.5 for women and 2.4 for men) and of dying when CVD was
present (hazard ratio, 2.2 for women and 1.7 for men). Diabetic men and
women 50 years and older lived on average 7.5 (95% confidence interval,
5.5-9.5) and 8.2 (95% confidence interval, 6.1-10.4) years less than their
nondiabetic equivalents. The differences in life expectancy free of CVD were
7.8 and 8.4 years, respectively.

Conclusions The increase in the risk of CVD and mortality from diabetes
represents an important decrease in life expectancy and life expectancy free
of CVD. Prevention of diabetes is a fundamental task facing today's society
in the pursuit of healthy aging.


Author Affiliations: Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University
Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands (Drs Franco,
Steyerberg, Mackenbach, and Nusselder); Unilever Corporate Research,
Colworth House, Sharnbrook, England (Dr Franco); Departments of Nutrition
and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, the Channing Laboratory,
Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass (Dr
Hu).

[End of abstract]

I don't have the full text, but it looks to me like this is a study that
went back a considerable period in time, probably many years. People were
classified as having DM at "baseline," which I take to mean either the
earliest date of the study's span or when the participants turned 50.

This should not reflect the kinds of results that can be obtained today with
tight control, IMO.
--
Jim Chinnis Warrenton, Virginia, USA
.

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