Australians with type 2 diabetes are living longer now than 20 years ago but more sufferers are overweight, a landmark study shows.
The 20-year analysis of Australians with type 2 diabetes revealed they had lower blood glucose and bad cholesterol levels compared to the 1990s.
‘This is the first Australian research to show that blood sugar control is improving in patients with type 2 diabetes,’ head of the Fremantle Diabetes Study Professor Tim Davis said.
‘Unfortunately our data also reveals that the average Body Mass Index for a person with diabetes is now in the obese category.’
Data from the study showed that compared to diabetes patients treated between 1993 to 1996, those treated between 2008 to 2011 had lower average blood glucose levels, lower bad cholesterol levels, lived longer, but were more overweight.
‘These changes are highly significant,’ Prof Davis told an annual diabetes conference this week.
‘The benefits of early diagnosis and more intensive treatment of both blood glucose and cholesterol levels is paying dividends.
‘Diabetes patients are living longer and this suggests that they are suffering fewer heart attacks and strokes.’
Laverty pathology 