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Life span

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CosmicOwl

CosmicOwl

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Does anyone know what the current life span is for a type 1 diabetic female. I have read that it can shorten your life and that is absolutely terrifying. I have seen quite a few different results so i'm guessing here would be the best place to ask. Thanks.
 
Well when I was diagnosed they reckoned it shortened your life by 20 years, but just over 40 years later they've reduced that but can't recall if it's now minus 10 or minus 15 years.

I'm now 63 and tomorrow I could get totalled by a bus, or have a large building fall on me, couldn't I? which would shorten my life one heck of a lot more than diabetes EVER will !

Trouble is, they base all this stuff on figures from the past and I can tell you, improvements in treatment get better every single year so with every year, the number will actually get less.

I certainly shouldn't lose ANY sleep over it - that will just kill you quicker than anything!
 
CosmicOwl said:
Does anyone know what the current life span is for a type 1 diabetic female. I have read that it can shorten your life and that is absolutely terrifying. I have seen quite a few different results so i'm guessing here would be the best place to ask. Thanks.
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I wouldn't mind betting that nobody actually knows, as TW say's you could get run over by a bus tomorrow 🙂 Some reports say life span is no different than a non diabetic thee days, others say 15 years less.

Bottom line is we were all born to die :D So enjoy life.
 
Not sure about anyone else, but when I was diagnosed some 17 years ago, aged 30 years, I decided that I would do everything to ensure I continued to have a long and happy life - for me that means managing my diabetes carefully, bu not obsessively, working hard at whatever work I can get, continuing to study at high level, having lots of fun, which for me, involves doing things some people, even without diabetes, would regard as extreme, such as padding Caledonian Canal; competing in and marshalling at adventure races, mountain marathons, trail runs etc; leading expeditions to Costa Rica, Chile, Falklands and South Georgia; lots of independent travel all over Europe, Latin America, Morocco, Jordan etc, some solo, some with partner or friends or family etc.

I'm sure that if I stressed about things, that would shorten my life more. Currently on a morning off, and a bit upset about something, so catching up with emails to friends, and eating a bit of chocolate (with bolus) with a mug of tea, with cat draped round my neck.
 
I was diagnosed aged 49 and fully intend being around for my telegram from the queen/king and my Nabarro award from Diabetes UK for living 50 years with diabetes 🙂

Bear in mind that, whatever figures you come across, they are based on an average which includes a very large number of people who either haven't looked after themselves well or who have not received good quality care and treatment. My personal feeling is that people who find their way to forums like this one are highly motivated to take good care of themselves. Also, if you are receiving good care and getting all your checks done regularly then you are probably less likely to succumb to other ailments because they may be spotted earlier than in people who aren't monitored so closely. 🙂
 
There's two things to remember: average stats work from an originally low standard of care, and that issues of lifespan are fully in YOUR control.

The low standard of care point...average lifespan is based on when people die. If the average lifespan of a T1 is, say 70, that's based on people primarily around the age of 70 dying with T1.

The majority of people with T1 develop it before they're 30. So we can infer that on average, if a T1's average expectancy is 70, that means they will have had diabetes for at least 40 years.

That means for at least 20 years of them having diabetes, they will not have had access to blood sugar monitors or insulin analogues. They won't have had access to pumps. They won't have had full care teams, or retinopathy screening. They won't have had doctors who will have known and understood the results of the DCCT.

In other words, when determining the 'average' life expectancy of a T1, the stats disproportionately are based around people who will not have had access to the tools they need to manage their diabetes for a significant proportion of their life. A person dxed in 2000 could quite reasonably be expected to have a longer life expectancy than someone dxed in 1970. It's just that because fewer people with T1 dxed in 2000 have died, they don't influence the stats to the same extent.

The second point is that diabetes isn't something that just 'happens' to you. The effect diabetes has on your health is directly a result of its effects on your blood sugar. That's what you've got control over. If you work at your diabetes, get an A1C that's relatively normal with few spikes...then there's no biological reason why it should shorten your life. Therefore, the effect diabetes has on your life expectancy is entirely down to you. If you want to enjoy a normal life expectancy, get normal blood sugars. It's all in your hands and that means statistics are meaningless.
 
A person dxed in 2000 could quite reasonably be expected to have a longer life expectancy than someone dxed in 1970.
Hmmmm not what I wanted to read:(
 
It's a reasonable expectation. To be honest, it's probably true for the general population, diabetic or not.

But the real point is your life expectancy is under your control. We've got the tools, so rather than let your life be governed by stats, let it be governed by your actions.
 
Flutterby said:
Blow the stats - I'm gonna live forever!
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Me too because my friends keep me smiling and laughing and laughter is the best medicine:D
 
Don't want to dwell on this :(. Best to get on with living well each day.
 
Hi Redkite I've pm'd you 🙂
 
Best to get on with living well each day.
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Precisely. What you want to pay attention isn't the amount of days you get while you have diabetes, it's about making sure diabetes doesn't stop you using those days to the full.
 
Redkite said:
Don't want to dwell on this :(. Best to get on with living well each day.
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As a Mum Redkite, you will always worry about your child, my mum still worries about me, even though like your son I was diagnosed at the age of 4 only difference being I have been on insulin for 48 years now 🙂 so life isn't all doom and gloom.
 
Look, even when they said it was 20 years as I saw it there wasn't ANYTHING I could usefully do about that statistic because that's all it was.

And what do we know for a fact, about the reliability of any statistic?

Lies, Damn Lies - and Statistics .......
 
All the Statistics that are available these days are already out of date. I can remember being told, when diagnosed in 2000, that I could expect to live up to 10 years less than my two brothers (who are not Diabetic) but that was only if I was not controlling it very well. If we control our Diabetes well we could easily expect to live as long (if not longer) than any "normal" people.
I hope that I can reach the Telegram age, then I can get one from the reigning monarch of the time (Sadly I don't think our current queen will be aroun in 69 years time 😉 ) we will see what happens won't we?
 
I'm doubly stuffed, not only am I T1, but also a left hander. Lefties have a higher propensity to die younger ...

:D:D:D
 
Great H is a left hander!- mind you I think his albeit short work experience with the community physios showed him an insight into other peoples situations - like those with advanced motor neorone - that could only communicate by tapping letters-a real thought provoking experience
 
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