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Diabetics'
Education Level
May Sway Death Risk
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
Type 2 diabetics with a college degree may have a lower risk of
premature death than those with only a high school diploma, a
new study suggests.
The findings support the idea that
education level makes a difference in how well people with type
2 diabetes are able to control their blood sugar -- and, therefore,
prevent diabetes complications, according to the report in the
May issue of Diabetes Care.
People with type 2 diabetes do
not metabolize glucose, or sugar, efficiently because their bodies
do not properly respond to the glucose-regulating hormone insulin.
Uncontrolled blood sugar can eventually lead to diabetes complications
such as heart disease, stroke, kidney problems, blindness and
nerve damage that can lead to amputations.
Overall, diabetics have a higher
risk of death compared with non-diabetics their age. But research
also suggests that among people with diabetes, socioeconomic status
-- which is related to education -- influences death risk.
To look at the relationship between
education and death risk among diabetics, Dr. Ronald P. Wilder
of the University of South Carolina in Columbia analyzed data
on nearly 2,400 men and women with type 2 diabetes. Participants
were about 62 years old, on average.
He found that death risk appeared
to decline as education level rose -- participants who graduated
college or pursued post-grad education had a lower death rate
than high school graduates.
Family income, Wilder found, was
not related to death risk, nor was race or marital status. As
expected, he notes in the report, increasing age and duration
of diabetes did raise the odds of death.
According to the researcher, the
findings support the idea that education increases a person's
ability to "invest" in his or her health.
"Education may also be a factor
in the relatively poor health status and outcomes of adults with
diabetes," he writes.
SOURCE: Diabetes Care 2003;26:1650.
Reference
Source 89
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