WEDNESDAY, April 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Rates of diabetes-related complications have declined substantially over the past two decades, according to a study published in the April 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Edward W. Gregg, Ph.D., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues utilized data from the National Health Interview Survey, the National Hospital Discharge Survey, the U.S. Renal Data System, and the U.S. National Vital Statistics System to compare the incidences of lower-extremity amputation, end-stage renal disease, acute myocardial infarction, stroke, and death from hyperglycemic crisis (from 1990 to 2010).
The researchers found that all five complications declined between 1990 and 2010, with the largest relative declines seen in acute myocardial infarction (−67.8 percent) and death from hyperglycemic crisis (−64.4 percent). Stroke and amputations each declined by approximately half. The smallest decline was in end-stage renal disease (−28.3 percent). Among adults with diabetes, rate reductions were larger, compared to adults without diabetes, leading to a reduction in the relative risk of complications associated with diabetes. There were declines in rates of acute myocardial infarction and death from hyperglycemic crisis (2.7 and 0.1 fewer cases per 10,000, respectively) when expressed as rates for the overall population, but not in rates of amputation, stroke, or end-stage renal disease.
"Rates of diabetes-related complications have declined substantially in the past two decades, but a large burden of disease persists because of the continued increase in the prevalence of diabetes," the authors write.
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