Men are more likely to develop diabetes-related diseases than women

A recent study has shown that men with diabetes (type 1 and 2) are much more likely to suffer from comorbidities such as cardiovascular disease, kidney complications and foot or leg complications than women with diabetes.

“Although the prevalence of diabetes is similar in men and women (global prevalence of 8.9% and 8.4%, respectively), the incidence and progression of diabetes-related complications appear to be more sex-specific,” the authors wrote in their study. was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

“Our study shows that men with diabetes had a 1.5 times higher risk of cardiovascular disease, lower extremity and kidney complications, and the risk of diabetic retinopathy was 14% greater in men than in women. The greater risk of CVD complications observed in men in our study is consistent with other large population studies in France and Denmark,” the authors further explain. “Men are more likely to be overweight, have a history of heart disease or stroke and be previous smokers. Men are also less likely to adopt primary prevention strategies, such as making healthy lifestyle changes and taking medications, and to engage in health-seeking behaviors, such as preventative health checks.”

“Furthermore, women are known to be at lower risk of CVD complications compared to men, due to the protective effects of reproductive factors such as breastfeeding and the use of hormone replacement therapy within 10 years of menopause,” she added.

The cardiovascular diseases that men with diabetes are at higher risk for are ischemic heart disease, transient ischemic attacks (TIA), stroke, heart failure and diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Surprisingly, the study highlighted that women with diabetes were at greater risk of eye complications due to incident retinopathy than their male counterparts. The researchers hypothesized that this could be because cataracts are more common in women than in men.

Lead author Alice Gibson of the University of Sydney and colleagues analyzed data from 25,713 people with diabetes from the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up Study, which provided detailed information on each person’s socioeconomic status, and health and lifestyle-related details.

Of the 25,713 participants in the study, 57% were men over 45 years old. Of the male participants, 38.7% were overweight, compared to 27.8% of women included in the study’s data sample.

Smoking was also much more common among men (51% compared to just 29% of women). “For every 1,000 people with diabetes, our findings suggest that on average, 37, 52, 21, and 32 people will develop CVD, eye, lower extremity, and kidney complications each year,” the authors noted.

“Although men with diabetes are at greater risk of developing complications, especially cardiovascular disease, kidney and lower extremity complications, the rate of complications is high in both sexes. The similar sex difference for people with shorter duration of diabetes in comparison with longer diabetes duration highlights the need for targeted screening for complications and prevention strategies from the moment of diabetes diagnosis. Further research into the underlying mechanisms for the observed sex differences in diabetes complications is needed to prepare targeted interventions,” they concluded.