| Obesity takes years off diabetics'
lives
LONDON (Reuters) - Obesity can reduce the life expectancy of diabetes
patients by up to eight years, British researchers said on Wednesday.
Professor Ross Lawrenson of the University of Surrey in Guildford,
southern England said a high body mass index (BMI), the standard
measure for calculating obesity, is a leading risk factor for people
suffering from diabetes.
"Obese people with diabetes have decreased life expectancy
and increased mortality," Lawrenson said in an interview.
Increased risk of death has been shown before, but the eight-year
figure is relatively new, he added.
The research, which was presented at the Diabetes UK medical conference
in Birmingham, England, also showed people with diabetes have double
the risk of dying.
BMI is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in
metres squared. A BMI of more than 30 is considered obese. More
than 35 is severely obese.
Lawrenson and his colleagues used a government research database
to study 44,188 patients with type 2, or adult onset, diabetes.
Excess weight is the most common and avoidable risk factor for type
2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes less sensitive to
the effects of insulin as weight increases. To compensate, the pancreas
produces more insulin, which then causes insulin resistance.
People with type 1 diabetes produce little or no insulin. It is
more common in children and adolescents and accounts for 10-15 percent
of cases.
The researchers found that the average age of death for type 2
subjects with a BMI of 35 or greater was 70 years old, while the
average for those with a BMI of 20-24 was 78 years old.
Medical experts say a 5-to-10 percent weight loss can reduce the
risk of diabetes and its related problems, such as macular degeneration,
the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, leg ulcers and high
cholesterol.
There is no cure for diabetes, but it can be controlled through
diet and exercise, oral medication or insulin injections.
"Eighty percent of people are overweight when they are diagnosed
with type 2 diabetes so this research is very worrying. It is essential
that people with diabetes manage their weight so they can help to
reduce their risk of serious complications, such as heart attack
and stroke," Benet Middleton, the chief executive of the charity
Diabetes UK, said in a statement. "Obesity is taking years
off people's lives."
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