Tuesday Topic: 4 Real Takeaways From A Scottish Type 1 Diabetes Study

Every so often, we at the DDG like to explore and breakdown what’s being presented in the nightly news, when diabetes-related. In the last week we were ambushed with this little tid-bit, “People with T1D have shorter life-expectancies”. Wonderful news right? Shocking? Not at all. Here’s the key background info: Scottish study, Dundee University, and studied 24,000 T1Ds over 20 years of age from 2008 to 2010.

==Key Takeaways To Remember==

1) Research never presents the whole picture.

We don’t know what these people were eating, how they were exercising, what their treatment history was like, etc. Each person presents a wide range of diversity in treatment, diet, exercise, and stress-management. Yes, we can all be classified as having type 1 diabetes. We do not all live the same life. Big point to always remember when looking at research of any kind.

2) Men with the condition lived about 11 years less than those without it, while women lived about 13 years less.

Note: THIS IS THE SMALLEST GAP BETWEEN NORMAL FOLKs EVER NOTED IN RESEARCH. THIS IS GOOD! 50% of news organizations interpreted the findings as a life-span improvement, while the others pointed out that we live less than normal people with a pancreas. Astute. It’s all in the interpretation. In the researchers’ official summary, they indicated excitement regarding the findings.

3) Technology is always improving.

Think about folks in their 70s and 80s with T1D. They were using animal-based insulin for much of their lives. They tested their sugar rarely, if at all, for most of their younger years. They found that 47% of men and 55% of women with the condition still survived to age 70. I find that incredibly encouraging!

4) Ischemic heart disease was main contributor to death in people with T1Ds.

Diabetes is tough on the heart. Extra sugar floating around does damage. This is why heart a healthy diet and lifestyle need to be front and center in diabetes education. If you have diabetes, this can serve as another motivation to eat vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and omega-3s. Just avoiding carbs isn’t enough!

Drop us a line if have any other thoughts to add!