Diabetes impacts men, women differently: Study

NewsIndia NewsDiabetes impacts men, women differently: Study

">Mental health risks are higher for women with diabetes as compared to men

Senior endocrinologist Prof Ravinder Goswami of All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) said diabetes can affect men and women differently.

Men may develop diabetes at a younger age, while women with diabetes lose the natural protection against heart disease that is usually seen before menopause. The study also found that women with diabetes may have a higher risk of problems related to memory, thinking and mental health.However, he cautioned that these problems may not be caused by diabetes alone, as cognitive and neuropsychiatric problems are generally more common in women. He said doctors should, therefore, watch for these issues while managing diabetes.Hypertension was the most common complication after type-2 diabetes across all age groups and in both sexes. It affected 21.1% of men and 20.2% of women. Men also experienced most complications earlier than women, while women generally had a later onset of events.The study linked diabetes, mental health and mortality, finding that people who developed a mental health condition after diabetes died earlier. Among those with the same disease trajectory, men died on average nine years younger than women.Despite this, women had higher average healthcare utilisation and long-term prescribing than men. The researchers said the lower healthcare use among men in the high-risk mental health trajectory could point to gaps in engagement with healthcare services.Join conversation

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The findings point to the need for sex-specific diabetes care, including routine mental health screening, particularly for younger women, and earlier cardiovascular and kidney monitoring for men.The researchers further added that tracking the sequence and timing of complications could help identify patients at higher risk and enable earlier intervention. However, as an observational study, the findings cannot establish cause and effect, and differences in mental health diagnoses may partly reflect healthcare-seeking behaviour.

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Anuja Jaiswal is a Senior Assistant Editor at The Times of India, with an impressive 18-year career in narrative journalism. She specializes in health and heritage reporting, expertly simplifying complex health information to make it engaging and understandable for readers. Her deep dives into heritage topics are well-researched, resulting in captivating narratives that resonate with her audience. Over the years, she has worked in Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh and West UP, gaining diverse on-ground experience that shapes her storytelling.

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