Heart Disease, Stroke Death Rates Drop for Many Seniors With Diabetes

Death rates for people with diabetes dropped substantially from 1997 to 2006, especially deaths related to heart disease and stroke. That information comes from researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, and it is encouraging news for seniors, the most common victims of type 2 diabetes.

Deaths from all causes declined by 23 percent, and deaths related to heart disease and stroke dropped by 40 percent, according to a recent study published in the journal Diabetes Care. CDC estimates that 25.8 million Americans have diabetes, and 7 million of them do not know they have the disease.

Although adults with diabetes still are more likely to die younger than those who do not have the disease, the gap is narrowing. Improved treatment for cardiovascular disease, better management of diabetes and some healthy lifestyle changes contributed to the decline. People with diabetes were less likely to smoke and more likely to be physically active than in the past. Better control of high blood pressure and high cholesterol also may have contributed to improved health.

For more about the research, go to http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/35/6/1252.full.