Spotlight on diabetes research

A paper looking at the causes of death among Australians with type1 and type 2 diabetes highlights dementia and falls are increasing, while deaths from heart disease are declining. 

The significant increase in in the proportion of deaths among people with diabetes due to dementia in Australia (a rise of more than 5 percentage points from 2002 to 2019), was mirrored in the United Kingdom, which saw deaths from dementia jump 14 percentage points between 2001 and 2018. What’s more, these findings can only partly be explained by increased life expectancies of people with diabetes and the increased likelihood of developing and dying from age-related diseases.

The study also showed a trend in increasing deaths due to dementia in younger ages under 65 years, implicating additional factors that are not age-related. The study of more than 1.3 million Australians with diabetes by researchers at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute shows the causes of death are diversifying, signifying individuals with diabetes, healthcare practitioners and government need to be more mindful of dementia, falls and even Parkinson’s disease, not just traditional complications like heart disease.

The study, published in Diabetic Medicine, examined the records of individuals with type 1 or type 2 diabetes who were registered on the National Diabetes Services Scheme between 2002 and 2019.

Head of Clinical Diabetes and Epidemiology, Professor Jonathan Shaw says while the study likely reflects improvements in the management of cardiovascular disease, which is really positive news, it also highlights the increasing challenge of dementia, in line with other global studies. “This suggests people may be surviving longer, allowing age-related diseases to develop but that dementia and falls need to be well and truly on the radar when it comes to screening and prevention of these conditions as part of diabetes management,” Professor Shaw says