Diabetes Under 40 Years Can Increase Early Death Risk

Illustration of blood sugar check due to diabetes (Pexels)

JAKARTA - diabetes appears to be associated with increasing the risk of early death, especially if it is detected in people under 40 years of age.

This has been proven through a Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology study that shows a connection between diabetes before the age of 40 and a much higher risk of early death.

According to the study, the risk of early death can increase fourfold. Meanwhile, diabetics at an older age, according to research results, are related to the risk of death one and a half times higher than the general population who did not experience these conditions.

To understand the impact of diabetes on health as a whole, the researchers followed 4,550 newly diagnosed individuals with diabetes for more than 30 years. The study participants are 25 to 65 years old.

The results of the analysis show that diabetes diagnosis at a younger age is related to the level of complications of disease and higher risk of death.

Diabetes, which begins to emerge at a younger age, is also associated with worse blood sugar levels control.

According to Amanda Adler, one of the authors of the study, the number of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes worldwide has increased significantly in the last 30 years.

"The evidence to date shows that type 2 diabetes that occurs at a young age, which is characterized by high blood glucose levels earlier and longer, may be more aggressive than the disease that followed," he said in a press release.

"This may include a faster decrease in the function of cells -- cells in the pancreas that produce and release insulin -- as well as a greater risk of complications such as cardiovascular and kidney disease," he continued.

Dr. Beryl Lin as the lead study author said more clinical trials should be focused on adjusted treatments to delay complications of diabetes in young people.

"We in particular need to understand why young adults with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of complications, and how we can identify and help these vulnerable groups, who have to live with diabetes for life," he said.