TYPE 1 DIABETES

Type 1 diabetes globally is a largely untold story. Over the last 20 years, the patterns of type 1 diabetes incidence are changing, and we are seeing pockets of high incidence in the Middle East and Africa. The reasons for this are unknown. This highlights the need for more data and registries to better understand what is happening when it comes to type 1 diabetes. But in some good news, a new global study from researchers at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute has found death rates for people with type 1 diabetes have declined in several countries including Australia, the USA, Scotland and Denmark. The study, published in leading diabetes journal, Diabetologia, examined populations across six countries from 2000 to 2016 and showed declines in death rates in type 1 diabetes for men and for women, and at most ages. This is good news for people with type 1 diabetes and indicates that advances in treatment and interventions may be working. However, people with type 1 diabetes still have a 2-5 times higher risk of death compared to those without diabetes, highlighting there is still much more work to be done. Study author and head of the Baker Institute’s Diabetes and Population Health Unit, Professor Dianna Magliano OAM, says this is the first study to look at death rates in people with type 1 diabetes in multiple countries, with an increased focus on large data linkage studies starting to provide a vital picture of what is happening globally. “Decreasing death rates in people with type 1 diabetes may be attributed to the advances in treatment and interventions for type 1 diabetes, as well as the improvement in cardiovascular disease prevention with widespread use of statins and anti-hypertensive medications over the last two decades,” Professor Magliano says.