A new research study by The University of Queensland’s School of Public Health suggests that women with type-I diabetes are twice more likely to die from heart disease than men. Moreover, women with this condition also had a 37% higher excess risk of death from any cause, 37% increased risk of stroke and 44% increased risk of death from kidney disease compared to men with type-I diabetes.

The researchers analyzed 26 studies between 1966 and 2014 that involved 214,114 type-I diabetes participants. The primary objective of the present study was to assess sex-specific estimates of type-I diabetes mortality.

The researchers hypothesize the poorer glycemic control and issues with insulin management to be the primary reasons for higher vascular-related death in women with type-I diabetes compared to men with the disease.

Lead author and public health professor, Rachel Huxley explains that the marked difference between the sexes for vascular-related disease could have significant clinical implications for how women with type-I diabetes are treated throughout their lives. A recent joint statement by the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association also highlighted the need of further research to examine ethnic and racial differences and improved cardiovascular risk-prediction methods in type-I diabetes population. In light of our findings, we would like the sex differences to be included in this statement.

Simon O’Neill, Director of Health Intelligence at Diabetes UK, also mentioned that treatment choices critically impact the way type-I diabetes affects people’s lives. He also stressed the urgent need for health organization to improve treatment options for tailored diabetes care in an effort to reduce the risk of life-threatening complications and mortality.

David Simmons, of the University of Western Sydney, said that the current study points at further investigating how the risk of excess mortality in women with type-I diabetes can be reduced further.