Blood sugar levels after glucose consumption linked to increased lifespan

From diabetes.co.uk/news

Research suggests that even among those with blood glucose levels considered “normal,” certain levels following glucose intake could be associated with significantly lower mortality risk.

A remarkable insight into blood glucose and longevity comes from the long-running Ohasama Study, conducted in a small agricultural community in Japan’s Tohoku region.

For over four decades, researchers have tracked the health of residents in Ohasama, regularly collecting detailed health and medical data.

Participants in this comprehensive study underwent glucose tolerance tests every four years. These tests measure blood sugar levels before and two hours after drinking a glucose-rich drink, commonly used to diagnose diabetes.

A team of researchers, led by Junta Imai and Hideki Katagiri from Tohoku University, analysed data from nearly 1,000 participants and published their findings in the scientific journal PNAS Nexus. The study initially explored how various health measures, including glucose tolerance tests, correlated with life expectancy.

Imai noted that even after accounting for known risk factors such as age, obesity, and smoking, the level of blood glucose one hour after glucose intake remained strongly linked to mortality.

Researchers split participants into two groups based on a median blood glucose threshold of 162 mg/dL (9 mmol/L).

Their analysis revealed that participants whose blood glucose was lower than this threshold one hour after glucose consumption showed significantly better survival rates.

To refine the findings further, the researchers focused on 595 participants who had normal glucose tolerance, establishing that a blood glucose threshold of 170 mg/dL (9.4 mmol/L) after one hour was the most reliable predictor of survival.

Over a 20-year follow-up period, nearly 80% of those with blood glucose below 170 mg/dL (9.4 mmol/L) one hour after glucose intake were still alive, compared to only about 50% of those with higher glucose levels.

This striking difference highlights a substantial health advantage associated with maintaining lower blood sugar levels soon after meals.

Digging deeper into causes of death, the study found that participants whose one-hour post-glucose levels stayed below 170 mg/dL had significantly fewer deaths from heart disease linked to atherosclerosis and fewer cancer-related deaths.

Lead researcher Imai concluded, “Our results show that even within what is considered a normal blood glucose range, some levels are clearly associated with greater longevity. As well as preventing diabetes, it’s important to manage spikes in blood glucose levels after eating to reduce risks of heart disease and cancer. This could help people enjoy longer, healthier lives.”

Read the study here.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2025/jul/blood-sugar-levels-after-glucose-consumption-linked-to-increased-lifespan.html 

Healthy lifestyle at the age of 50 can increase life expectancy

From diabetes.co.uk

Middle-aged adults with a healthy lifestyle are more likely to live longer than those with unhealthy lifestyles, new research has demonstrated.

A new study has found that individuals who have not developed a common risk factor of cardiovascular disease by the time they hit 50-years-old will enjoy a longer health span than those who are living with one or more of the five classic risk factors.

The five classic risk factors for cardiovascular disease include type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol and underweight or overweight/obesity.

First author Dr Christie M. Ballantyne said: “The findings underline the significant role these risk factors play in life expectancy and in how long a person remains healthy as they age.”

In the study, the team of researchers looked at the health data of two million adults from 39 countries.

Joint author Dr Christina Magnussen said: “The five classical risk factors are responsible for approximately half of all cardiovascular diseases worldwide. We wanted to understand how the absence or control of these factors affects life expectancy.”

The results have shown that 50-year-old women who are living with none of these risk factors are likely to develop cardiovascular disease 13.3 years later and die 14.5 years later than women with all five risk factors.

Meanwhile, men free of these risk factors live 10.6 years longer without cardiovascular disease and die 11.8 years later than men with these risk factors, the study has reported.

According to the research, adults who have good blood pressure control and do not smoke by the ages of 55 and 60 are likely to have a longer lifespan compared to those who smoke and have bad blood pressure control.

The study has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2025/apr/healthy-lifestyle-at-the-age-of-50-can-increase-life-expectancy.html 

How Does Type 1 Diabetes Affect Life Expectancy?

From everydayhealth.com

Type 1 diabetes can take years off your life. Reduced life expectancy is one of the condition’s most frightening complications.

But there is reason for optimism. Although studies have suggested that type 1 diabetes has historically shortened lives by a decade or more, recent improvements in diabetes management may be leading to consistently better outcomes in people living with the condition today.

Type 1 Diabetes and Life Expectancy

“It can be very difficult to accurately estimate life expectancy relating to type 1 diabetes, as management of the condition is changing all the time,” says Verity Colder, MBChB, a senior clinical adviser at Diabetes UK.

Several studies in the past decade have found that people with type 1 diabetes die about 10 to 12 years earlier than their peers without diabetes. But that life expectancy is probably going up all the time, says Dr. Colder.

“We know that living with type 1 diabetes can reduce life expectancy," Colder says. "However, recent research shows it has been improving since the 1990s, with the number of deaths due to type 1 diabetes in older people decreasing by 25 percent. This is likely because of improvements in treatment and care over the past 30-plus years.”

Historical data on type 1 diabetes and life expectancy may be of limited relevance to patients today, because the treatment of the condition has improved so much over the decades. For most of the 20th century, insulin dosing was imprecise, and blood sugar measurement was rare, leading most people to regularly encounter severe problems with hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia. Doctors typically did not tell their patients to target normal blood sugar levels.

A lot has changed since then. Today, you can measure blood sugar at home with relative ease, reducing the risk of very high and low blood sugar events and allowing for enhanced accuracy in insulin dosing. Modern insulins are more reliable and make it easier to exercise and eat normally. The newest insulin pumps can integrate with continuous glucose monitors to automatically adjust insulin delivery rates throughout the day. Perhaps as a result of these care advancements, type 1 diabetes mortality has declined in a number of countries.

“We anticipate that with continued changes to management … and research into new treatments to delay or prevent type 1 diabetes altogether, this will only continue to improve in the future,” Colder says. 

It’s important to note, however, that life expectancy can vary widely across different communities. Early deaths from type 1 diabetes are far more common in low-income nations, and in the United States, Black and Hispanic Americans have higher A1C levels and more dangerous outcomes than their white peers.

“This also varies significantly around the world depending on the healthcare system and the relative income level of the country, as well as access to technology and innovative treatments,” says Colder.

Causes of Early Death in Type 1 Diabetes

Broadly speaking, type 1 diabetes harms health in two ways: high blood sugar and low blood sugar. Unhealthy blood sugar levels can cause fatal situations to develop slowly over a period of years or decades, or quickly, within minutes.

Hyperglycaemia: Long-Term Risks

Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) is the root cause of most of the long-term complications of diabetes and is the most significant contributor to reduced life expectancy. Persistently high blood sugars harm the heart and blood vessels, the nerves, vital organs such as the kidneys, and many other parts of the body.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in people with type 1 diabetes. While many adults without diabetes eventually die of cardiovascular disease (heart disease is the most common cause of death in the United States), people with type 1 diabetes usually experience heart disease about one decade earlier. The higher your blood sugar levels are above normal, as measured by A1C, the greater your risk of early death from cardiovascular disease.

Kidney disease is a second major cause of early death in people with type 1 diabetes. The development of kidney problems is a direct consequence of hyperglycaemia; elevated blood sugar levels are the strongest predictor of chronic kidney disease in people with type 1 diabetes.

Hyperglycaemia: Short-Term Risks

In the short term, the chief danger of high blood sugars is the development of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). In DKA, a critical lack of insulin causes the blood to become acidic and toxic. If not treated at a hospital, it can be deadly. Many people are only diagnosed with type 1 diabetes after developing DKA.

This dangerous condition is less likely to occur in people who have already been prescribed insulin. Nevertheless, DKA remains a significant risk for people with long-standing type 1 diabetes. The condition, which ultimately always stems from an insufficient amount of insulin, can also be precipitated by rationing or skipping insulin doses, dehydrating illnesses (such as the stomach flu), heart attacks, and insulin delivery malfunctions (such as insulin pump tubing problems).

Hypoglycaemia

Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), an omnipresent risk in people who use insulin, can cause death quickly. Severe low blood sugar levels can cause people to pass out, sometimes leading to coma or death. Hypoglycaemia can also precipitate death indirectly by causing car crashes, drowning, falls, and other accidents. Repeated bouts of hypoglycaemia also lead to a condition called “hypoglycaemia unawareness,” in which people fail to experience the usual symptoms and warning signs of low blood sugar, increasing the risk. Guarding against severe low blood sugars is one of the most important lessons to learn about life with type 1 diabetes.

Historical data has suggested that as many as 4 to 10 percent of patients with type 1 diabetes have died during hypoglycaemic episodes. But it’s possible that the rate of death has improved significantly in recent years. The development of the continuous glucose monitor (CGM), in particular, has given many people the ability to track their blood sugar levels continuously, reducing the likelihood of being surprised by severe hypoglycaemia. CGMs can sound alarms when glucose levels are trending down toward dangerous territory, alerting users of the need to intervene.

Enhancing Life Expectancy

Good diabetes management can add years to your life. Glycaemic control and the avoidance of chronic high blood sugar levels are the keys to reducing your risk factors for early death from type 1 diabetes. Blood sugar stability also makes sudden death from hypoglycaemia or DKA less likely.

Colder encourages people with type 1 diabetes to take advantage of every tool they have access to in order to achieve optimal blood sugar control.

“People [should] access technology that they are eligible for, such as continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps, as this can reduce the daily burden of living with type 1 diabetes and improve longer-term blood glucose management,” Colder says. 

Of course, glycaemic control is not the only factor determining longevity. Luck and genetics play a big role. An analysis of long-lived adults with type 1 diabetes found that they tended to have the following additional modifiable factors in common.

• High levels of HDL-cholesterol (“good cholesterol”)
• Low insulin resistance, indicated by low daily insulin requirements
• Healthy weight 
• Non-smoking status

Regular communication with your medical team is also important for guarding your long-term health. “We would encourage people to attend their routine review appointments with their healthcare practitioners to pick up any signs of developing complications early,” Colder says.

The Takeaway

• The complications of high and low blood sugar levels, including kidney and cardiovascular diseases, increase the risk of early death for people with type 1 diabetes.
• Breakthroughs in medication and technology are expanding the lifespans of people with type 1 diabetes beyond historical expectations.
• Good glucose control and healthy lifestyle choices may increase the life expectancy of people with type 1 diabetes.

https://www.everydayhealth.com/diabetes/how-type-1-diabetes-affects-life-expectancy/

People Are Living Longer With Type 1 Diabetes

From usnews.com

People with type 1 diabetes are 25% less likely to die early now than they were in 1990, a new global tally finds, and the number of people who've lived into their senior years with the autoimmune illness keeps rising.

The new findings suggest that type 1 diabetes "is no longer a contributory factor in decreased life expectancy owing to improvements in medical care over the three decades," said a team led by Yongze Li, of the First Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. People with type 1 disease must take insulin each day to remain healthy. About 5% of all diabetes cases are type 1.

If poorly controlled, the disease can take a toll on health, and in decades past, people with type 1 diabetes tended to live shorter lives.

The Chinese team looked at data from the Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors Study 2019, to see if things had gotten better for patients.

They have: In 1990, the number of people who'd lived to age 65 or older worldwide with type 1 diabetes was estimated to be 1.3 million, but by 2019 it had risen to more than 3.7 million.

At the same time, death rates fell by 25%, from 4.7 per 100,000 population in 1990 to 3.5 in 2019.

These statistics occurred even as type 1 diabetes became more prevalent, according to the study published June 12 in the BMJ.

"Globally, the prevalence of type 1 diabetes at least tripled in every age group from 65 to 94 years, especially among men, while death rates decreased across all age groups, particularly among women and those younger than 79," according to a journal news release.

But gains against diabetes weren't seen everywhere. For example, the study found that death rates "fell 13 times faster in countries with a high sociodemographic index," compared to poorer countries, where the decline in early deaths to people with type 1 diabetes is considered much lower.

Keeping blood sugar under control is key to improved outcomes. For example, a person with high blood sugar levels was at greater risk of disabling symptoms.

Still, the news was mostly good, the Chinese team said, but older people with diabetes may need better care.

“Our study also advocates for urgent attention to coping strategies for ageing populations and older people with type 1 diabetes, rational allocation of health resources and the provision of targeted guidelines," they said.

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2024-06-13/people-are-living-longer-with-type-1-diabetes 

Type 2 diabetes: diagnosis at age 30 could cut life expectancy by 14 years

From diabetes.co.uk

Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at a younger age could shave years off your life expectancy, a new study has shown.

The team behind the research say that preventing or delaying the condition should be an “urgent priority” after estimating that people who were diagnosed at the ages 30, 40 and 50 died on average around 14, 10 and six years earlier, respectively, than those without type 2 diabetes.

Professor Emanuele Di Angelantonio, from the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Heart and Lung Research Institute (VPD-HLRI) at the University of Cambridge, said: “Type 2 diabetes used to be seen as a disease that affected older adults, but we’re increasingly seeing people diagnosed earlier in life. As we’ve shown, this means they are at risk of a much shorter life expectancy than they would otherwise have.”

Globally, cases of type 2 diabetes have risen rapidly due to growing rates of obesity, poor quality of diet and sedentary lifestyles.

Around 537 million adults were estimated to have the condition in 2021, with more and more people being diagnosed at a younger age.

‘Vascular deaths’ were the most common reason for reduced life expectancy linked to diabetes, which includes heart attack, stroke and aneurysms.

Cancer, another complication linked to type 2 diabetes, also played a part in the reduced life expectancy.

Dr Stephen Kaptoge, from the VPD-HLRI, said: “Type 2 diabetes can be prevented if those at greatest risk can be identified and offered support – whether that’s to make changes to their behaviour or to provide medication to lower their risk. But there are also structural changes that we as a society should be pursuing, including relating to food manufacturing, changes to the built environment to encourage more physical activity, and so on.

“Given the impact type 2 diabetes will have on people’s lives, preventing – or at least delaying the onset – of the condition should be an urgent priority.”

Prior studies had identified that people with type 2 diabetes have a life expectancy that is, on average, six years shorter than those without the condition. Less was known however, about how this impact on life expectancy differs according to age of diagnosis.

A team led by scientists at the University of Cambridge and University of Glasgow analysed data from two major international studies, involving 1.5 million people from 19 high-income countries.

They found that every decade of earlier diagnosis of type 2 diabetes was linked to around a four-year reduction in life expectancy.

The estimates were found to be slightly higher among women – for those diagnosed at ages 30, 40, and 50 years, the reduction in life expectancy was 16, 11, and 7 years, respectively, compared to 14, 9, and 5 years, respectively, among men.

Professor Naveed Sattar, from the Institute of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow, added: “Our findings support the idea that the younger an individual is when they develop type 2 diabetes, the more damage their body accumulates from its impaired metabolism. But the findings also suggest that early detection of diabetes by screening followed by intensive glucose management could help prevent long-term complications from the condition.”

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2023/oct/type-2-diabetes-diagnosis-at-age-30-could-cut-life-expectancy-by-14-years.html