The high risks in diabetes!

One in three diabetics dead in 10 years, study


17th June 2008, 14:45 WST



Alarming new diabetes research predicts almost a third of Australians with the disease will die in the next decade.

The figures, presented at an international diabetes conference, are the first to forecast the mortality and morbidity in Australia due to type two diabetes, and the picture is grim.

From a nationally-representative sample of diabetics, 13 per cent would die in the next five years and 31 per cent would be dead within a decade.

One in five will have a heart attack by 2018, and one in 12 will suffer stroke or other complications like amputation, blindness and renal failure.

“We didn't know what to expect from the study but it's true to say these are quite compelling figures,” said clinical pharmacologist Professor Danny Liew, from St Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne.

“The outlook for diabetics is not good and it will only potentially get worse because there will be more people in the future developing it.”

About 700,000 Australians have diabetes, with about 85 per cent diagnosed with the type two, a lifestyle form of the condition which is triggered by poor diet, lack of exercise and resulting weight gain.

Experts have warned of a looming “diabesity” crisis, as a growing number of Australians of all ages are burdened with the twin lifestyle conditions.

Prof Liew and his colleagues used the nation's largest diabetes study, AusDiab, to build a predictive model to assess the health outlook for diabetics using a sample of 825 people.

The group was older and had a variety of complications, like obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

“It's hard for us to say how typical it is of the diabetes population because they have a number of risk factors, but it is definitely close, and the dangers of those risks are clear,” said Prof Liew, who presented the data at the American Diabetes Association meeting in San Francisco.

“Even if you look at it conservatively, the burden of the disease is high.”

Stephen Colagiuri, a professor of metabolic health at the University of Sydney, said that while the numbers developing diabetes were on the rise, death rates overall were decreasing.

“The situation is still bad but it's not as bad as it used to be, largely because we're treating people better and keeping them in better health for longer,” Prof Colagiuri said.

“But the complications are still a major burden.”

A type two diabetic costs an average of $5,350 a year to treat, from $4,000 in early-stage disease to almost $10,000 for people with common, diabetes-related complications.

SYDNEY
AAP

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?Men...ContentID=79374