New research suggests type 1 diabetes is more deadly for women than it is for men.
The recent findings show women with type 1 diabetes are 40 percent more likely to die from any cause and are twice as likely to die from heart disease than men with the same condition, the University of Queensland School of Public Health reported. The findings could change the way women with type 1 diabetes are treated.
"It is speculated that women with type 1 diabetes tend to have greater difficulties with insulin management and glycaemic control than men - factors that could contribute to their increased risk of heart disease," said study leader Professor Rachel Huxley. "However, more research is needed to determine why the disease poses a greater risk to women than men."
To make their findings, the researchers looked at data from 26 studies that included over 200,000 men and women suffering from type 1 diabetes.
"We already knew that people with type 1 diabetes have shorter life expectancies than the general population, but this study was able to determine for the first time that the risk of mortality is greater in women than men with the disease," Huxley said.
The research team also noticed women with type 1 diabetes were more likely to die from kidney disease than their male counterparts.
"Interestingly, however, type 1 diabetes was not linked to an increased risk of death from cancers in either gender," Huxley noted.
Type 1 diabetes is on the rise across the globe; currently the disease has risen in children 14 years of age and younger by a whopping 3 percent every year since 1989.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.
