Type 1 Diabetes vs Type 2: Study Finds Type 1 Diabetes Shortens Life Span by Significantly Less Time Than in the 1970s

The life expectancy for people with type 1 diabetes is 11 to 15 years shorter than that of the general population, a new study has found.

Women who suffer from what was once known as juvenile diabetes die 13 years sooner than the average person; for men, that figure is 11 years, the Oregonian detailed. The findings come from a large-scale study in Scotland that surveyed nearly 25,000 individuals.

Diabetes sufferers below the age of 50 die primarily from ischemic heart disease, the research from the University of Dundee School of Medicine suggests. Kidney problems are also particularly prevalent among diabetics.

The cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown, but the disease effectively prevents the production of insulin, a hormone that transforms sugar, starches and other food into energy.

About 29.1 million Americans have diabetes, through 95 percent of them suffer from type 2 -- or adult-onset -- diabetes, meaning their bodies produce an insufficient amount of insulin, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. Type 1 diabetics, on the other hand, suffer an absolute lack of the hormone.

The Scottish researchers said that while type 1 diabetes still significantly shortens the average life span, the gap in life expectancy has decreased in recent decades, according to Fox News. In the United States, for example, a 1970s report observed that the disease cut people's lives by up to 27 years.

Figures that high are now outdated, and the improvement shows that diabetes care has vastly improved, study author Helen Colhoun said.

Doctors hope, however, that the gap the disease causes with respect to life expectancy will eventually disappear altogether.

"It's not zero," Colhoun said. "The goal is to get it to zero."

The scientist said that individual patients should not be discouraged by the double-digit findings.

"It's important to stress that these are averages," Colhoun explained. "Some people with type 1 diabetes will achieve a very long life expectancy, and some people will have a short life expectancy. These are estimates."

The doctor stressed that the best approach for patients is to be in control of their blood-sugar levels.

"The key thing is really glycemic control because it in turn determines your kidney health, for example, which in turn has a big impact on cardiovascular health," she said.