(Press-News.org) Men are at greater risk than women of the major health effects of diabetes (types 1 and 2), suggests a long term study published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
Rates of cardiovascular disease, leg, foot, and kidney complications, and the sight-threatening eye disease diabetic retinopathy are all higher in men, regardless of whether they had diabetes for more or less than 10 years, the findings show.
The global prevalence of diabetes is similar in men and women, and is projected to rise to 783 million by 2045, note the researchers.
But while cardiovascular disease is more common in men, overall, it’s not clear if this sex difference is apparent in the incidence of the complications associated with diabetes, say the researchers. Nor is it clear whether the length of time lived with diabetes might be influential, they add.
To explore this further, the researchers drew on survey responses from the 45 and Up Study, Australia, a large prospective study of 267,357 people over the age of 45 living in New South Wales (NSW).
These responses were linked to medical records for a total of 25,713 people, all of whom had either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, to monitor the development of any of the major health issues associated with diabetes
These include cardiovascular disease—ischaemic heart disease, mini stroke or TIA, stroke, heart failure, diabetic cardiomyopathy; eye problems—cataract, diabetic retinopathy; leg/foot problems—peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage), ulcers, cellulitis, osteomyelitis (bone inflammation), peripheral vascular disease (poor circulation), and minor or major amputation; and kidney problems—acute kidney failure, chronic kidney disease, chronic kidney failure, dialysis, and kidney transplant.
Almost half of the group were aged 60 to 74, and over half (57%; 14,697) were men, a higher proportion of whom were overweight (39% vs 29% of women) and had a history of heart disease.
Although a similar proportion of men and women were current smokers, a higher proportion of men were ex-smokers: 51% vs 29% of the women.
Of the 19,277 (75%) people with diabetes whose age was recorded at their diagnosis, 58% had been living with the disease for less than a decade and 42% had lived with it for 10 or more years.
Men had higher rates, and were at greater risk, of the complications associated with diabetes.
Over an average monitoring period of 10 years, and after factoring in age, 44% of the men experienced a cardiovascular disease complication while 57% had eye complications. Similarly, 25% of the men had leg/foot complications, and 35% kidney complications. The equivalent figures for women were, respectively, 31%, 61%, 18% and 25%.
Overall, men were 51% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than women, 47% more likely to have leg and foot complications, and 55% more likely to have kidney complications.
Although there was little difference in the overall risk of eye complications between the sexes, men were at slightly higher risk (14%) of diabetic retinopathy.
While complication rates rose in tandem with the number of years lived with diabetes for both men and women, the sex difference in complication rates persisted.
By way of an explanation, the researchers point out that the men in the study were more likely to have well known risk factors. Men may also be less likely to make lifestyle changes, take preventive meds, or get health checks to lower their risks, they suggest.
This is an observational study, and as such, no firm conclusions can be drawn about causal factors, added to which people with a history of complications were excluded from the study. And information on potentially influential factors, such as diabetes medications, and glucose, blood fat, and blood pressure control wasn’t available.
But based on their findings, the researchers suggest: “For every 1000 people with diabetes, our findings suggest that an average of 37, 52, 21, and 32 people will develop cardiovascular disease, eye, lower limb, and kidney complications every year.”
While the risks of complications are lower in women with diabetes, they are still high, emphasise the researchers.
And they conclude: “Although men with diabetes are at greater risk of developing complications, in particular [cardiovascular disease], kidney and lower-limb complications, the rates of complications are high in both sexes.
“The similar sex difference for those with shorter compared with longer diabetes duration highlights the need for targeted complication screening and prevention strategies from the time of diabetes diagnosis.
“Further investigation into the underlying mechanisms for the observed sex differences in diabetes complications are needed to inform targeted interventions.”
END
Men at greater risk of major health effects of diabetes than women
Cases of cardiovascular, leg/foot, kidney complications, and eye disease all higher in men. Sex differences in complication rates persist regardless of disease duration
2024-05-17
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Likelihood of kids and young people smoking and vaping linked to social media use
2024-05-17
The more time spent on social media, the greater the likelihood that children and young people will both smoke and/or vape, suggests research published online in the respiratory journal Thorax.
Clocking up a weekday tally of 7 or more hours was associated with a more than a doubling in risk among 10 to 25 year olds, the findings indicate, reinforcing concerns about the marketing clout of these platforms, say the researchers.
The existing body of research on social media use and smoking and ...
Global life expectancy to increase by nearly 5 years by 2050 despite geopolitical, metabolic, and environmental threats, reports new global study
2024-05-17
**Embargo: 23.30 [UK time], 6:30 p.m. [EDT] May 16, 2024**
Global Burden of Disease
The latest findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021, published today in The Lancet, forecast that global life expectancy will increase by 4.9 years in males and 4.2 years in females between 2022 and 2050.
Increases are expected to be largest in countries where life expectancy is lower, contributing to a convergence of increased life expectancy across geographies. The trend is largely driven by public health measures that ...
High primary health coverage significantly reduces child mortality in Latin America
2024-05-17
The implementation of primary health care (PHC) over the last two decades has prevented more than 300,000 child deaths in four Latin American countries, and could prevent more than 140,000 by 2030 in a scenario of economic crisis. This is the main conclusion of a study coordinated by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by “la Caixa” Foundation, published in The Lancet Global Health.
The 2018 Astana Declaration highlighted the critical role of PHC in ensuring that everyone enjoys the highest possible standard of health, and in achieving universal health coverage. The Declaration also stressed the ...
Ubiquitin trailblazer elected Fellow of prestigious Royal Society
2024-05-17
WEHI division head and pioneer of ubiquitination Professor David Komander has been elected a Fellow of the esteemed Royal Society, the UK’s national science academy.
Prof Komander was recognised for his significant research contributions towards understanding ubiquitin, the ‘kiss of death’ protein which tells our cells which proteins to break down or recycle – a vital process that helps cells stay healthy and function correctly. Prof Komander’s work has helped unravel the ‘ubiquitin code’ that enables ubiquitin to perform many ...
A new ‘rule of biology’ may have come to light, expanding insight into evolution and aging
2024-05-17
By Darrin S. Joy
A molecular biologist at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences may have found a new “rule of biology.”
A rule of biology, sometimes called a biological law, describes a recognized pattern or truism among living organisms. Allen’s rule, for example, states that among warm-blooded animals, those found in colder areas have shorter, thicker limbs (to conserve body heat) than those in hotter regions, which need more body surface area to dissipate heat.
Zoologist Joel Allen formulated this idea in 1877, and though he wasn’t the first or the last to present a rule of biology, his ...
Scripps Research chemists develop new method for making gamma chiral centers on simple carboxylic acids
2024-05-17
LA JOLLA, CA—Scripps Research chemists have accomplished a long elusive feat in synthetic chemistry: the invention of a broadly useful method for constructing “gamma chiral centers” on simple starting compounds called carboxylic acids. The method, published on May 16, 2024 in Science, significantly extends the ability of chemists to build and modify complex pharmaceutical molecules and other valuable chemical products.
The term chiral refers to a type of asymmetry that allows some chemical compounds to exist in left-handed and right-handed forms. Often, only one of these forms has the ...
2024 SIAM Annual Meeting (AN24) with online component including SIAM Conference on Discrete Mathematics (DM24) and the SIAM Conference on Applied Mathematics in Education (ED24)
2024-05-16
The SIAM Annual Meeting provides a broad view of the state of the art in applied mathematics, computational and data science, and their applications through invited presentations, prize lectures, minitutorials, minisymposia, contributed presentations, and posters. END ...
Detecting influence campaigns on X with AI and network science
2024-05-16
In the age of generative-AI and large language models (LLMs), massive amounts of inauthentic content can be rapidly broadcasted on social media platforms. As a result, malicious actors are becoming more sophisticated, hijacking hashtags, artificially amplifying misleading content, and mass resharing propaganda.
These actions are often orchestrated by state-sponsored information operations (IOs), which attempt to sway public opinion during major geopolitical events such as the US elections, the Covid-19 pandemic, and more.
Combating ...
Offering both colonoscopy and at-home tests doubled colorectal cancer screening
2024-05-16
The rate of colorectal cancer screenings more than doubled when patients were given a choice between which type of screening they wanted—a take-home kit or colonoscopy—compared to those who were only offered the colonoscopy, according to new research led by the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Facilitated through a community health center in which about half of patients had Medicaid insurance, the study—published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology—provides insights about how to boost screenings among groups ...
A powerful tool speeds success in achieving highly efficient thermoelectric materials
2024-05-16
HOUSTON, May 16, 2024 – Thermoelectric materials could play an important role in the clean energy transition, as they can produce electricity from sources of heat that would otherwise go to waste without generating additional greenhouse gases or requiring large up-front investment. But their promise has been slowed by the fact that most current thermoelectric materials don’t efficiently produce enough power to be useful for many practical applications.
The search for new, more efficient materials involving complex chemical ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Music-based therapy may improve depressive symptoms in people with dementia
No evidence that substituting NHS doctors with physician associates is necessarily safe
At-home brain speed tests bridge cognitive data gaps
CRF appoints Josep Rodés-Cabau, M.D., Ph.D., as editor-in-chief of structural heart: the journal of the heart team
Violent crime is indeed a root cause of migration, according to new study
Customized smartphone app shows promise in preventing further cognitive decline among older adults diagnosed with mild impairment
Impact of COVID-19 on education not going away, UM study finds
School of Public Health researchers receive National Academies grant to assess environmental conditions in two Houston neighborhoods
Three Speculum articles recognized with prizes
ACM A.M. Turing Award honors two researchers who led the development of cornerstone AI technology
Incarcerated people are disproportionately impacted by climate change, CU doctors say
ESA 2025 Graduate Student Policy Award Cohort Named
Insomnia, lack of sleep linked to high blood pressure in teens
Heart & stroke risks vary among Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander adults
Levels of select vitamins & minerals in pregnancy may be linked to lower midlife BP risk
Large study of dietary habits suggests more plant oils, less butter could lead to better health
Butter and plant-based oils intake and mortality
20% of butterflies in the U.S. have disappeared since 2000
Bacterial ‘jumping genes’ can target and control chromosome ends
Scientists identify genes that make humans and Labradors more likely to become obese
Early-life gut microbes may protect against diabetes, research in mice suggests
Study raises the possibility of a country without butterflies
Study reveals obesity gene in dogs that is relevant to human obesity studies
A rapid decline in US butterfly populations
Indigenous farming practices have shaped manioc’s genetic diversity for millennia
Controlling electrons in molecules at ultrafast timescales
Tropical forests in the Americas are struggling to keep pace with climate change
Brain mapping unlocks key Alzheimer’s insights
Clinical trial tests novel stem-cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease
Awareness of rocky mountain spotted fever saves lives
[Press-News.org] Men at greater risk of major health effects of diabetes than womenCases of cardiovascular, leg/foot, kidney complications, and eye disease all higher in men. Sex differences in complication rates persist regardless of disease duration