Studies are showing that the link between
cardiovascular disease and type 1 (juvenile)
diabetes – particularly among women – has been significantly underestimated, according to an article in the latest edition of Countdown, the quarterly journal of the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). One study, known as the Diabetes UK Cohort, is the most comprehensive of its kind and has produced a number of startling statistics of the risk of cardiovascular complications in women and young people with
type 1 diabetes.
According to Countdown, among the most important trends established from the UK Cohort study is that cardiovascular disease can begin to develop at an early age for people with type 1 diabetes. The implications of this new information is far reaching for millions, particularly women since, according to the study, young women (under age 45) with type 1 diabetes are highly susceptible to fatal heart disease, despite this focus group’s normal ability to fend off cardiovascular problems. Furthermore, in the study’s 20-39 age group, the risk of cardiovascular death for type 1 diabetics was proved to be more than seven times higher for women and five times higher for men.