“How long does a person live with type 1 diabetes?”
My friend was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. How long does a person live with type 1 diabetes?
5 Answers
Well-controlled Type 1 Diabetes does not affect life span. Important to have a healthy lifestyle, diet, and activities.
Your friend may have a long life as long as the diabetes is under good control.
How long a person lives with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is variable depending on many factors including how well the diabetes is controlled. We used to believe that it took 10 or more years off life expectancy & it does if not well controlled. If the diabetes is well controlled, we now believe the person will as long as their genetics & life style permits just as any one else would. That means keeping the blood sugar in good control, their Hb1c >7 or 6.5., keeping blood pressure normal, keep lipids normal, don't smoke or use drugs, etc. So follow the rules & life span can be the same as anyone else. There are thousands of people who have had T1D for over 50 yrs., hundreds over 60 yrs and some over 75 yrs. with a healthy, fulfilling life. I have had it for 27 yrs. & feel fine. I am 84 yrs. old. You can do it!!
Mrs. Winsome Johnston of New Zealand was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 6 and has lived with T1D for over 84 years into her 90s. By closely following legitimate medical advice and maintaining a positive attitude, someone diagnosed with T1D today can expect to live more than 50 years after diagnosis. Of course, other diseases can affect anyone's lifespan.
What's the life expectancy of a child with type 1 diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes is the commonest metabolic disorder and the second commonest chronic disease of childhood. About 90% of type 1 diabetes (type A) is an autoimmune disease were as the 10% is idiopathic type 1 diabetes (type B). There are about 200,000 children with type 1 diabetes in America. It is increasing by about 3% annually. It will triple in the next 30 years to 600,000 children in America, with an incidence rate of about 20,000 newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes children in America.
Type 1 diabetes is based on genetic susceptibly and strong environmental triggers. Genetic susceptibility is conferred by about 40 genes. About 50% of genetic susceptibility is conferred by a gene that control the a Major histocompatibity ll molecule (MHC ll) also known as human leukocyte antigen (HLA).
When insulin was discovered in 1921 it was made commercially available globally in a short period of time.
Before the discovery of insulin type 1 diabetes was managed by carbohydrate restriction (literally starvation therapy). The life expectancy was only few weeks to few months and some survived up to 3 years with starvation therapy. But thy literally died slowly as emaciated ghosts.
After the introduction of insulin a disease that was a death sentence (terminal illness) became a disease with grave acute and chronic complications. The life expectance however was improved dramatically.
In the early years of insulin therapy acute complications from severe hypoglycemia were very common cause of death. Dehydration from hyperglycemia, and diabetes acidosis and diabetes coma were also common cause of death. Chronic complications such as eye disease, kidney disease, nerve disease and cardiovascular disease (heat disease, heart attack, stroke and arterial diseases) start to develop in 10-15 years after diagnosis. These diabetes related comorbidities became the commonest killers of type 1 diabetes in the 1950's. Due to these acute and chronic complications the life expectancy of type 1 diabetics was much shorter. In the 1950's and 1960's (i.e 20-30 years after the introduction of insulin about 35% of patients with type 1 diabetes died of diabetes related complications. There were about 90% eye disease, 25% kidney disease, over 40% cardiovascular disease. Over 12% of blindness in America was from diabetes.
In the first 20-30 years after insulin production the insulin was crude as it have so much impurities. It caused more side effects such as skin atrophies and very erratic blood sugars. different short acting, intermediate acting and long acting insulin were advanced, though they have impurities. However as our understanding diabetes, insulin and much more technological advances were made mortality from acute and chronic complications start to slow down.
In 1972 blood sugar testing glucometer was commercially available in the hospital setting and in 1982 self blood sugar monitors were commercially available for patients.
The 1980's saw one of the greatest technological advancement. Pure Human insulin was synthesized and was made commercially available. Both short acting and long acting insulin became pure and less immunogenic with the human insulin. Diabetics start to monitor their blood sugars at home as often as they need and glycemic control improved much better leading to less complications and longer life expectancy.
Insulin pumps, blood sugar sensors and various advanced blood glucose monitors made management of diabetes much better and brought better quality of life and the life expectancy got longer.
A large multicenter trail called the DCCT trail conducted between 1983-1993 demonstrated that tight glycemic control lowered all forms of chronic complications by almost 40% (eye disease, kidney disease, and Cardiovascular disease) These was done in over 1400 type 1 diabetic patients over a span of 10 years. This was a great paradigm shift in the management of diabetes that intensification of insulin in type 1 diabetes showed great improvement in all forms of chronic complications of diabetes.
Today intensive insulin therapy using fast acting and long acting insulin or insulin pumps with frequent blood sugar monitoring or using sensors has become a standard of care. And as such, chronic and acute complications of diabetes are much lower than the 1970-1990. The quality of life and life expectancy have dramatically improved though there is about 3-4 fold more risk of dying from diabetes related complications compared to the general population.
The commonest cause of death for type 1 diabetes are from complications of diabetes such as high cholesterol(cardiovascular disease), inflammation, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, endothelial dysfunction oxidative stress, metabolic syndrome and Advanced glycation end products from chronic hyperglycemia leading to cardiovascular disease, kidney disease eye disease and nerve disease. Without this complications life expectance with well controlled diabetes would be close to the normal population. Out of all the comorbidities the commonest cause of death in diabetes is heart disease.
Currently the mortality rate of type 1 diabetes is about 7% in 25 years of having diabetes. So the over all life expectancy of a diabetic patient is about 13 years shorter for women and 11 years shorter for men.
Patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes have shorter life expectancy than type 2 diabetes, because type 2 diabetes is mostly diagnosed in later years and their comorbidities (HTN, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, inflammation) are treated earlier, though, it is not fare to compare both of them because both suffer all the complications of diabetes.
Some studies show that type 2 diabetes have a bout 10 years shorter life expectance and type 1 about 20 years shorter.
The Canadian study puts the average life expectancy about 55 years. In the USA the average life expectancy for a woman with diabetes is 68 years (13 years shorter) Vs. 81 years and for men 66 years (11 years shorter) vs. 77 years.
In children the younger the age of diagnoses the shorter the life span is. If a person is diagnosed before the age of 10 years the life expectancy is shorter by 14 for boys and 18 years for girls. If it is greater than the age of 14 years the life expectancy is higher lower than diagnosed in their 20's or 30's because they have more exposure to hyperglycemia that causes glycemic load leading to inflammation, HTN, heart disease , kidney disease, eye disease, nerve disease and metabolic syndrome.
Diabetic patients would have life expectancy if they would maintain good glycemic control and prevent the comorbidities or aggressively treat them early. However 50% are non-complaint and only 30% of diabetic patients have good glycemic control. Most type 1 diabetic patients do not get treated for the most of the comorbidities and that is why they develop more chronic complications.
Before the age of 40years acute complications are the commonest cause of death in type 1 diabetes. After the age of 40 years chronic complications are more common cause of death.
Poorly controlled diabetics have persistent hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia overtime causes elevation in advanced glycation end products (AGE). Glucose reacts with proteins, fats and nucleic acids to form glycated products. When excess glycated products are produced they can advance to become oxidizing agent that free radicals and reactive oxygen species. These AGE can cause alteration in cell receptors, cause inflammation (through releasing inflammatory cytokines) and denature proteins and disrupt cell function. They cause faster aging and dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis heart disease, HTN, kidney and eye disease, degenerative diseases, through their oxidative stress. These can lead to shortened life expectancy.
Children with early onset diabetes especially before the age of 10 years will spend may years with more glycemic load. This glycemic load leads to metabolic or oxidative stress through the formation of AGE. This leads to chronic complications of diabetes intern increasing morbidity and mortality. life expectancy will be expected to shorten by about 10-16 years in those with history of poor glycemic control and genetic susceptibility to develop chronic complications.
Therefore good glycemic control can avoid complications of diabetes. This can lead into a healthy long life with normal life expectancy.
Longevity could be achieved by:
Eating healthy balance diet
Obtaining good glycemic control
Regular doctor visit
Exercise regularly
Avoid stress
Sleep well
Check HbA1C regularly
Remember that diabetics die not because they have diabetes but they die from diabetes related complication such as heart disease (cardiovascular disease), kidney disease, HTN, chronic inflammation to leads to atherosclerosis. Preventing or treating these early enough will prolong life expectancy.
Going back to your friend. I am assuming your friend was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child. Your friend should check her/his blood glucose as often as necessary without additional stress. She/he needs to get her/his insulin appropriate to the food eaten and correct blood sugars that are out of range without causing hypoglycemia. Maintain blood sugars between 70-140 about 75% of the time. Maintain HA1c <7.5%. Let her/him exercise regularly. She/he needs to eat healthy and balanced diet. Maintain ideal weight if possible.
She/he needs to have regular check up for HBA1c, urine microalbumine, let her/him get regular eye exam and lipid profile should be monitored on regular basis. Any comorbidities such as high lipids, HTN, nerve disease and urine microalbumine should be treated early and aggressively. If she/he maintains good glycemic control until there is a cure she/he should be able to enjoy a happy normal life with normal longevity comparable to the general population. But if the glycemic control is poor and the comorbidities are not prevented or not treated early and aggressively the life expectancy with diabetes from the age of 10 years is about 14-18 years shorter than average.
However this is a statistical probability (relative risk not an absolute risk) since she/he may not have any complications at this time and therefore may not develop them in the future. The most important issue right now is to take good care of her/his diabetes and maintain good glycemic control and not worry about (statistical probability) future complications since we would not know for sure if she/she will develop complications of diabetes that will cut her/his life expectancy shorter. She/he should enjoy normal life with normal life expectancy as long as she/he is in good glycemic control.
He/she should work with his/he doctor closely, and utilize any of the available diabetes gadgets including insulin pumps and blood glucose sensors, if you are comfortable using them. He/she should also remain hopeful that a cure may be on horizon soon. Until then a good glycemic control is the rule of the thumb.
Good Luck
Type 1 diabetes is the commonest metabolic disorder and the second commonest chronic disease of childhood. About 90% of type 1 diabetes (type A) is an autoimmune disease were as the 10% is idiopathic type 1 diabetes (type B). There are about 200,000 children with type 1 diabetes in America. It is increasing by about 3% annually. It will triple in the next 30 years to 600,000 children in America, with an incidence rate of about 20,000 newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes children in America.
Type 1 diabetes is based on genetic susceptibly and strong environmental triggers. Genetic susceptibility is conferred by about 40 genes. About 50% of genetic susceptibility is conferred by a gene that control the a Major histocompatibity ll molecule (MHC ll) also known as human leukocyte antigen (HLA).
When insulin was discovered in 1921 it was made commercially available globally in a short period of time.
Before the discovery of insulin type 1 diabetes was managed by carbohydrate restriction (literally starvation therapy). The life expectancy was only few weeks to few months and some survived up to 3 years with starvation therapy. But thy literally died slowly as emaciated ghosts.
After the introduction of insulin a disease that was a death sentence (terminal illness) became a disease with grave acute and chronic complications. The life expectance however was improved dramatically.
In the early years of insulin therapy acute complications from severe hypoglycemia were very common cause of death. Dehydration from hyperglycemia, and diabetes acidosis and diabetes coma were also common cause of death. Chronic complications such as eye disease, kidney disease, nerve disease and cardiovascular disease (heat disease, heart attack, stroke and arterial diseases) start to develop in 10-15 years after diagnosis. These diabetes related comorbidities became the commonest killers of type 1 diabetes in the 1950's. Due to these acute and chronic complications the life expectancy of type 1 diabetics was much shorter. In the 1950's and 1960's (i.e 20-30 years after the introduction of insulin about 35% of patients with type 1 diabetes died of diabetes related complications. There were about 90% eye disease, 25% kidney disease, over 40% cardiovascular disease. Over 12% of blindness in America was from diabetes.
In the first 20-30 years after insulin production the insulin was crude as it have so much impurities. It caused more side effects such as skin atrophies and very erratic blood sugars. different short acting, intermediate acting and long acting insulin were advanced, though they have impurities. However as our understanding diabetes, insulin and much more technological advances were made mortality from acute and chronic complications start to slow down.
In 1972 blood sugar testing glucometer was commercially available in the hospital setting and in 1982 self blood sugar monitors were commercially available for patients.
The 1980's saw one of the greatest technological advancement. Pure Human insulin was synthesized and was made commercially available. Both short acting and long acting insulin became pure and less immunogenic with the human insulin. Diabetics start to monitor their blood sugars at home as often as they need and glycemic control improved much better leading to less complications and longer life expectancy.
Insulin pumps, blood sugar sensors and various advanced blood glucose monitors made management of diabetes much better and brought better quality of life and the life expectancy got longer.
A large multicenter trail called the DCCT trail conducted between 1983-1993 demonstrated that tight glycemic control lowered all forms of chronic complications by almost 40% (eye disease, kidney disease, and Cardiovascular disease) These was done in over 1400 type 1 diabetic patients over a span of 10 years. This was a great paradigm shift in the management of diabetes that intensification of insulin in type 1 diabetes showed great improvement in all forms of chronic complications of diabetes.
Today intensive insulin therapy using fast acting and long acting insulin or insulin pumps with frequent blood sugar monitoring or using sensors has become a standard of care. And as such, chronic and acute complications of diabetes are much lower than the 1970-1990. The quality of life and life expectancy have dramatically improved though there is about 3-4 fold more risk of dying from diabetes related complications compared to the general population.
The commonest cause of death for type 1 diabetes are from complications of diabetes such as high cholesterol(cardiovascular disease), inflammation, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, endothelial dysfunction oxidative stress, metabolic syndrome and Advanced glycation end products from chronic hyperglycemia leading to cardiovascular disease, kidney disease eye disease and nerve disease. Without this complications life expectance with well controlled diabetes would be close to the normal population. Out of all the comorbidities the commonest cause of death in diabetes is heart disease.
Currently the mortality rate of type 1 diabetes is about 7% in 25 years of having diabetes. So the over all life expectancy of a diabetic patient is about 13 years shorter for women and 11 years shorter for men.
Patients diagnosed with type 1 diabetes have shorter life expectancy than type 2 diabetes, because type 2 diabetes is mostly diagnosed in later years and their comorbidities (HTN, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, inflammation) are treated earlier, though, it is not fare to compare both of them because both suffer all the complications of diabetes.
Some studies show that type 2 diabetes have a bout 10 years shorter life expectance and type 1 about 20 years shorter.
The Canadian study puts the average life expectancy about 55 years. In the USA the average life expectancy for a woman with diabetes is 68 years (13 years shorter) Vs. 81 years and for men 66 years (11 years shorter) vs. 77 years.
In children the younger the age of diagnoses the shorter the life span is. If a person is diagnosed before the age of 10 years the life expectancy is shorter by 14 for boys and 18 years for girls. If it is greater than the age of 14 years the life expectancy is higher lower than diagnosed in their 20's or 30's because they have more exposure to hyperglycemia that causes glycemic load leading to inflammation, HTN, heart disease , kidney disease, eye disease, nerve disease and metabolic syndrome.
Diabetic patients would have life expectancy if they would maintain good glycemic control and prevent the comorbidities or aggressively treat them early. However 50% are non-complaint and only 30% of diabetic patients have good glycemic control. Most type 1 diabetic patients do not get treated for the most of the comorbidities and that is why they develop more chronic complications.
Before the age of 40years acute complications are the commonest cause of death in type 1 diabetes. After the age of 40 years chronic complications are more common cause of death.
Poorly controlled diabetics have persistent hyperglycemia. Hyperglycemia overtime causes elevation in advanced glycation end products (AGE). Glucose reacts with proteins, fats and nucleic acids to form glycated products. When excess glycated products are produced they can advance to become oxidizing agent that free radicals and reactive oxygen species. These AGE can cause alteration in cell receptors, cause inflammation (through releasing inflammatory cytokines) and denature proteins and disrupt cell function. They cause faster aging and dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis heart disease, HTN, kidney and eye disease, degenerative diseases, through their oxidative stress. These can lead to shortened life expectancy.
Children with early onset diabetes especially before the age of 10 years will spend may years with more glycemic load. This glycemic load leads to metabolic or oxidative stress through the formation of AGE. This leads to chronic complications of diabetes intern increasing morbidity and mortality. life expectancy will be expected to shorten by about 10-16 years in those with history of poor glycemic control and genetic susceptibility to develop chronic complications.
Therefore good glycemic control can avoid complications of diabetes. This can lead into a healthy long life with normal life expectancy.
Longevity could be achieved by:
Eating healthy balance diet
Obtaining good glycemic control
Regular doctor visit
Exercise regularly
Avoid stress
Sleep well
Check HbA1C regularly
Remember that diabetics die not because they have diabetes but they die from diabetes related complication such as heart disease (cardiovascular disease), kidney disease, HTN, chronic inflammation to leads to atherosclerosis. Preventing or treating these early enough will prolong life expectancy.
Going back to your friend. I am assuming your friend was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child. Your friend should check her/his blood glucose as often as necessary without additional stress. She/he needs to get her/his insulin appropriate to the food eaten and correct blood sugars that are out of range without causing hypoglycemia. Maintain blood sugars between 70-140 about 75% of the time. Maintain HA1c <7.5%. Let her/him exercise regularly. She/he needs to eat healthy and balanced diet. Maintain ideal weight if possible.
She/he needs to have regular check up for HBA1c, urine microalbumine, let her/him get regular eye exam and lipid profile should be monitored on regular basis. Any comorbidities such as high lipids, HTN, nerve disease and urine microalbumine should be treated early and aggressively. If she/he maintains good glycemic control until there is a cure she/he should be able to enjoy a happy normal life with normal longevity comparable to the general population. But if the glycemic control is poor and the comorbidities are not prevented or not treated early and aggressively the life expectancy with diabetes from the age of 10 years is about 14-18 years shorter than average.
However this is a statistical probability (relative risk not an absolute risk) since she/he may not have any complications at this time and therefore may not develop them in the future. The most important issue right now is to take good care of her/his diabetes and maintain good glycemic control and not worry about (statistical probability) future complications since we would not know for sure if she/she will develop complications of diabetes that will cut her/his life expectancy shorter. She/he should enjoy normal life with normal life expectancy as long as she/he is in good glycemic control.
He/she should work with his/he doctor closely, and utilize any of the available diabetes gadgets including insulin pumps and blood glucose sensors, if you are comfortable using them. He/she should also remain hopeful that a cure may be on horizon soon. Until then a good glycemic control is the rule of the thumb.
Good Luck
