Many Causes of Death Higher in Diabetes

People with diabetes tend to die earlier, and not just from heart disease and stroke, a new study finds. A 50-year-old with diabetes dies about 6 years sooner than someone without the disease, the research found. That compares with a 10-year shortened lifespan for longtime smokers. Researchers combined information from nearly 100 studies. They included 820,900 people. No one had been diagnosed with heart disease when the studies began. Average follow-up was about 13 ½ years. In that time, 123,000 people died. Researchers adjusted their numbers to account for other factors that affect life expectancy. These included age, gender, weight and smoking. Even with the adjustments, those who had diabetes were twice as likely to die of a heart attack or stroke as those without the disease. They also were 25% more likely to die of cancer.