Type 2 diabetes may strike men and women differently: Here's what the new study says

In a new research study carried out in the UK, it appeared that complications associated with Type 2 diabetes vary between males and females. The study revealed that while men tend to develop either cardiovascular disease or end-stage renal disease, women have a greater tendency to develop mental illnesses like anxiety and depression.

Type 2 diabetes complications can follow different paths in men and women

The research study was published in PLOS Medicine. It involved 28,720 people with Type 2 diabetes who were diagnosed between 2010 and 2020. The researchers collected data using primary care medical records as well as secondary health care record linkage from the United Kingdom.

Rather than investigating each complication independently, they used a multi-state approach to study the timing of each complication. The complications studied include hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, end-stage renal disease, and mental illnesses. Mental health problems occurred in 8.1% of women, whereas in 5.3% of men. Thus, women were more prone to the development of anxiety disorders and depression following the diagnosis of diabetes.

On the other hand, males were more prone to a disease progression involving either heart disease or end-stage renal disease. This occurred in 8.4% of males compared to 5.3% of females. Additionally, males tended to develop complications at an earlier age compared to females.

Hypertension was the most frequent complication among all ages and genders. It accounted for 21.1% of men and 20.2% of women, making its monitoring as significant as diabetes monitoring.

Another significant finding on Type 2 diabetes was the strong association between health complications due to mental problems and mortality. Patients developing mental disorders in addition to their illness were at greater risk of dying prematurely. Among those patients with similar health development, on average, men died nine years earlier than women.

These results indicate that the treatment of Type 2 diabetes may require early monitoring. Women may need additional help with their psychological health, and men may be required to undergo early tests for their heart and kidneys.

From the results obtained, it appears that Type 2 diabetes might have varying outcomes among males and females. Monitoring the onset of complications will help medical practitioners in early identification of patients at high risk.

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