Life Expectancy and Odds of Complications/Losing a Limb or vision

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Admiral Benbow

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Can anyone give a rough estimation of life expectancy/odds of complications/losing a limb or vision with Type 2 diabetes? Like how long does the average type 2 diabetic live from diagnosis? What percentage of type 2's will have complications? What percentage will lose a limb or lose their vision. Granted most people on this forum are trying to fix the problem, but let's assume someone who does little to deal with it or follows the normal standard western diet.

I recently saw the Beat Diabetes guy's video about his mom, and it freaked me out:
 
Life expectancy figures are based on historic data going back decades.
As someone with Type 1, I do not find this very useful as the treatment and monitoring has changed so much in the last decade.
Whilst I appreciate many people with type 2 do not monitor their blood sugars or change, there are more now who do than did ten years ago. And those who do have the tech available to hem such as Libre.

The stories such as the one you highlight maybe motivation to do the most to avoid these complications, I do not consider the statistics they quote valuable.
 
The problem with trying to estimate life expectancy, complications, etc, is that the people featured in most studies developed diabetes long enough ago not to have had the benefit of modern treatments (drugs and insulins) and testing equipment, so it was much harder for them to keep their glucose levels stable.
Edit. @helli types faster than I do!
 
Admiral Benbow said:
Can anyone give a rough estimation of life expectancy/odds of complications/losing a limb or vision with Type 2 diabetes? Like how long does the average type 2 diabetic live from diagnosis? What percentage of type 2's will have complications? What percentage will lose a limb or lose their vision. Granted most people on this forum are trying to fix the problem, but let's assume someone who does little to deal with it or follows the normal standard western diet.

I recently saw the Beat Diabetes guy's video about his mom, and it freaked me out:
Click to expand...

Something will kill me one day, but I plan to go out active and symmetrical.
 
Admiral Benbow said:
Can anyone give a rough estimation of life expectancy/odds of complications/losing a limb or vision with Type 2 diabetes? Like how long does the average type 2 diabetic live from diagnosis? What percentage of type 2's will have complications? What percentage will lose a limb or lose their vision. Granted most people on this forum are trying to fix the problem, but let's assume someone who does little to deal with it or follows the normal standard western diet.

I recently saw the Beat Diabetes guy's video about his mom, and it freaked me out:
Click to expand...
Basically it depends on how you look after yourself.
It's your condition so look after it and yourself.
One of my lovely neighbours died last year he was 93 or 94 can't remember which and he had type2 for over 40 years and only went on insulin for the last 5 years of his life.

No one knows how long you or anyone else will live for. You have life enjoy it and look after yourself at the same time. 🙂
 
Why do you want to know about "average" statistics when being "above average" means they don't really apply to you. I am happy to maintain my diabetes management well above average and intend to continue to do so and I have every expectation that, as a result of that, I will live longer and with better health and quality of live, than I would have without my diagnosis, because I look after myself better now and eat healthier food and keep myself fit and get regular check ups on my feet and eyes and kidneys.

I take comfort in the fact that my uncle made it to 84 with his sight and feet and kidneys still intact and he was still cycling regularly at 80 on his own. He did not have the benefit of modern technology and there were many occasions when he was found either hypo and semi conscious or DKA and was in a coma with it more than once, but he still had a good innings. With the advantages of modern science and technology I think I should be able to put at least 20 years on his lifespan. I will however almost certainly be a miserable "old git" if I reach 100+ so maybe best to go out with a bang before that.
I appreciate that myself and my Uncle are/were both Type 1, but it is elevated BG levels which cause complications, not the Type of diabetes and as an "at risk of Type 2" you can hopefully prevent putting your foot on the diabetes ladder at all.
My advice is to always aim to be a bit better than average! 😉
 
If you want a rough estimate I would suggest that far more people are hurt, maimed or killed as a direct cause of vehicle accidents than by a direct cause of having blood glucose concentrations which give Hba1c levels between 42 mmol/mol and 48 mmol/mol. So, if you don't worry about travelling in motor vehicles, thereby accepting that risk, then it would be illogical even to think to about the risks associated with T2 diabetes at around the diagnosis level.

That said I do think that you are asking the right question and if more attention was paid to a proper evaluation of risk rather than making lots of noise about the ends of the distribution then people would be able to get a proper perspective on the likely outcome on any set of circumstances.

I wonder what the risk of coming to harm by watching Youtube videos of extremes and taking the messages they deliver to heart might be. Probably far higher than coming to harm from any physiological changes from being "at risk of diabetes".
 
Admiral Benbow said:
Like how long does the average type 2 diabetic live from diagnosis?
Click to expand...

The data probably says not that long, as it will be based on past times when people with type 2 were diagnosed older. If people diagnosed in their 60s for example only lived 20 years after diagnosis, that wouldn’t mean me diagnosed at 20 would only live 20 years. Especially not with modern medicine.
 
Admiral Benbow said:
Can anyone give a rough estimation of life expectancy/odds of complications/losing a limb or vision with Type 2 diabetes? Like how long does the average type 2 diabetic live from diagnosis? What percentage of type 2's will have complications? What percentage will lose a limb or lose their vision. Granted most people on this forum are trying to fix the problem, but let's assume someone who does little to deal with it or follows the normal standard western diet.

I recently saw the Beat Diabetes guy's video about his mom, and it freaked me out:
Click to expand...
A Canadian study calculated that on average T1 diabetes reduces Life Expectancy by 10 to 15 years while T2 cost 5 to 10 yeas of Life Expectancy. That was about 10 years ago so hopefully things have improved with better equipment, drugs, and insulins etc. since then.
Of course even Roy Taylor in his famous Lancet article of 2018 said achieving 'remission' on his definition wouldn't stop T2s getting complications.
 
When I was diagnosed T2 over 22 years ago I recall that it was estimated that most people had probably had diabetes for between 5 and 7 years before diagnosis, they usually had high blood glucose during that period and that’s when the damage was done, I have impaired sight in my left eye and some foot nerve damage but I think with modern medication and monitoring limb loss and blindness can be avoided. Here’s to a long life
 
Burylancs said:
A Canadian study calculated that on average T1 diabetes reduces Life Expectancy by 10 to 15 years while T2 cost 5 to 10 yeas of Life Expectancy. That was about 10 years ago so hopefully things have improved with better equipment, drugs, and insulins etc. since then.
Of course even Roy Taylor in his famous Lancet article of 2018 said achieving 'remission' on his definition wouldn't stop T2s getting complications.
Click to expand...

But it slowed it over many decades.
As I said, I'll look to die, possibly painfully, from far more interesting things.
 
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