Type 2 Diabetes Doesn’t Have to Mean a Shorter Life Expectancy, Study Finds

A new study led by researchers affiliated with the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia, shows that people suffering from Type 2 diabetes have a longer life expectancy than they used to, due to a healthier lifestyle.

“Mortality rates are an important indicator of access to quality healthcare,” says Head of Diabetes and Population Health Professor Dianna Magliano OAM, and lead author of the study. “Our findings suggest that we may be starting to reap the benefits of better education and disease management programs.”

The study examined some 21 million deaths from Type 2 diabetes which occurred between 1995 and 2016 in 16 high-income countries – Australia, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Italy (Lombardy), Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain (Catalonia), Taiwan, and the US. Lifestyle changes like quitting smoking, managing cholesterol, and high blood pressure made a difference. Therefore, death rates are declining, and the life expectancy gap between people who suffer from diabetes and people who don’t have it is narrowing.