People with cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes is bound to have a significantly shorter life expectancy, according to a British study published in “JAMA” – which can be shortened by as much as 15 years for people in their 60s, who suffer from both diseases.
For the study, the team at the University of Cambridge analysed more than 135,000 deaths which occurred during follow-up of almost 1.2 million participants in population cohorts. They used this to provide estimates of reductions in life expectancy associated with a history of different combinations of diabetes, stroke, and/or myocardial infarction heart attack.
They found that having a combination of diabetes and heart disease is associated with a substantially lower life expectancy. “An individual in their sixties who has both conditions has an average reduction in life expectancy of about 15 years,” said study author Emanuele Di Angelantonio. For women aged 60, the corresponding estimates were 13 years and 16 years of reduced life expectancy.
They furthermore found that the younger the patients, the greater the reduction in life expectancy. At the age of 40 years, men with all three cardiometabolic conditions would on average have 23 years of reduced life expectancy; for women at the same age, the corresponding estimate was 20 years.
“Our results highlight the importance of preventing heart disease and stroke amongst patients with diabetes, and likewise averting diabetes amongst heart disease patients,” said study author John Danesh.
Conclusions and Relevance Mortality associated with a history of diabetes, stroke, or MI was similar for each condition. Because any combination of these conditions was associated with multiplicative mortality risk, life expectancy was substantially lower in people with multimorbidity.
The Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration JAMA. 2015;314(1):52-60. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.7008.