Lifespan greatly cut by both diabetes and heart disease
Life expectancy for people with a history of both cardiovascular disease and diabetes is substantially lower than for people with just one condition or no disease, a new study harnessing the power of ‘Big Data’ has concluded.
Researchers from the UK’s University of Cambridge and part-funded by the European Research Council analysed more than 135,000 deaths which occurred during prolonged follow-up of almost 1.2 million participants in population cohorts. They used this to provide estimates of reductions in life expectancy associated with a history of different combinations of diabetes, stroke and/or myocardial infarction heart attack, so-called ‘cardiometabolic diseases’.
The researchers estimated that at the age of 60 years, men with any two of the cardiometabolic conditions studied would on average have 12 years of reduced life expectancy, and men with all three conditions would have 14 years of reduced life expectancy. For women at the age of 60 years, the corresponding estimates were 13 years and 16 years of reduced life expectancy.
Commenting, Professor John Danesh said: “Our results highlight the importance of preventing heart disease and stroke amongst patients with diabetes, and likewise averting diabetes amongst heart disease patients. Although patients with more than one condition constitute only a small proportion of the population at large, in real terms the numbers are not insignificant.
“Measures aimed at reducing diabetes and heart disease amongst this group could have a dramatic impact on their lives. However, at the same time, we must not lose sight of tackling these serious conditions within the wider population.”
The results are published in full in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
