Behind the headlines: Type 1 diabetes and heart disease

[Diabetes UK]

– by Emily Burns

You might have seen the headlines today linking an early diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes to a higher risk of heart disease and a shorter life.

We know these stories can be scary. And while they shine an important light on how serious diabetes is, we want you to have the facts about what this might mean for you or your family. Our Head of Research Communications Dr Emily Burns takes a look behind the headlines.

https://blogs.diabetes.org.uk/?p=10819

 

[mikeyB]

A much needed piece of info, thanks Hannah. Newspapers either don’t know, or deliberately ignore the difference between relative risk and absolute risk. I have chronic pancreatitis, so I’m around five times more likely to get pancreatic cancer than the general population. That’s the relative risk. The absolute risk is between 2 and 3%.

 

[Diabetes UK]

Yes, some of the headlines were quite scary, and we were concerned that they may affect people in different ways. We felt that it was important to provide some more detail about what the results of the research really mean for people living with type 1 diabetes.

If anyone has any questions about the research, feel free to ask. I can do my best to answer queries 🙂