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A recent study found the mortality rate for seniors over the age of 65 who suffer from diabetes has risen substantially. Among this age group, the mortality rate for those with diabetes was 10 percent annually, compared to 6 percent for non-diabetes sufferers.
Researchers were surprised by the findings because other studies led medical professionals to assume diabetes was far more prevalent in the deaths of younger people than seniors.
The study was based on a national sampling of about 150,000 Medicare claims in 1994 that included an equal number of diabetes sufferers and those who weren't afflicted. Over a five-year period, 40 percent of the patients with diabetes included in the survey died from all causes versus some 26 percent who did not have diabetes. Additionally, mortality for diabetes patients was higher in each subgroup through age 85.
The study reported the presence of diabetes increased the mortality rate of more than 60 percent of the African-Americans and 80 percent of the Caucasians surveyed. As a result, researchers recommended more studies be done on elderly patients with diabetes, especially because few clinical trials have included them.
One current clinical study is recruiting patients up to 80 years old.
Science Daily May 25, 2004
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