life expectancy & 8/6 units (honeymoon?)

LionChild

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I have read information on this site regarding life expectancy of Type 1 Diabetes females, but not about life expectancy of those with LADA. I am 67, and have recently been diagnosed with Diabetes 1, having previously, for the last year, been diagnosed as first, pre-diabetic, then Diabetes 2.
I am presently in what is known as the 'honeymoon period' apparently in which my blood glucose levels are not too awry, and only on 8 units in the morning, and 6 units in the evening, having come right down from what I was put on in hospital (30 units twice a day) to where I was admitted in emergency with keto-acidosis, and an Hb1Ac of 119).
Two questions, if anyone knows the answers:

Does anyone know what the life expectancy of someone is who was diagnosed with LADA at 67 - as I am assuming it is different from if I had had diabetes type 1 from birth?
And secondly how 'average' is this need of mine for 8 units in the morning, and 6 in the evening. The consultant did not think it was imsportant enough to do a C-Peptide test (at least he did, but they didn't put it 'on ice' and therefore the test could not be valid, and so was, and has, subsequently it seems, been abandoned).
 
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To be honest, I don't pay much attention to life expectancy figures for type 1 as this can only be based on historic data.
Given the recent technological improvements in diabetes management in the last 20 years, I am not convinced there is enough evidence to accurately calculate life expectancy with the tools we use today.
Rather than getting hung up on how long I may live, I focus on managing my BG.

And, as we are all different, with different weights, different diets, different levels of exercise and different insulin sensitivities, there is not much value in comparing insulin doses. If your dose keeps your BG in range most of the time, it is the right amount of insulin for you.
 
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I agree with Helen, especially in the 21st century with so much more knowledge, tech and on the most part care, life expectancy will be what it will be, so enjoy it to the fullest the best you can.
 
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LionChild

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Well Both....thank you for your responses...but I AM interested, and DO want to ask the questions! (or I wouldn't have posted the questions!)
 

Rokaab

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Well Both....thank you for your responses...but I AM interested, and DO want to ask the questions! (or I wouldn't have posted the questions!)

There probably is no useful average lifespan for someone diagnosed at your age because so much has changed in technology, so any averages would be based on older tech and treatment, there is just not enough relevant data to answer your question.
For example when I was diagnosed my parents were told that I probably wouldn't make it to 35 (I only found this out recently when my Mum had had slightly too many glasses of wine), yet here I am in my 40's still going strong (though I am a pessimistic cynic who whinges a lot).

To be honest the average amount of insulin someone takes is generally going to be of no use whatsoever apart from to make you feel bad if you're taking more of it than the 'average'.
I have no clue how it'd even be worked out - my doctor knows very roughly what I have - but it changes on a daily basis depending on what I've eaten, what I've done, if I'm stressed, if I'm ill or whether the insulin just appears to be working better than normal just because it feels like it.

I realise that those answers of mine don't answer your question and are repeating what's already been said, but I was just adding some extra comments
 
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Well Both....thank you for your responses...but I AM interested, and DO want to ask the questions! (or I wouldn't have posted the questions!)

I suppose it could be said, how long is a piece of string ? We are all so different, no one really knows what is around the corner.
 

KK123

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you can expect to live to around 65.
Well Both....thank you for your responses...but I AM interested, and DO want to ask the questions! (or I wouldn't have posted the questions!)

Hi LionChild, well the so called answer is it can knock 15 years off your life expectancy (I don't think the 'experts' differentiate when you might have first got it) so that means for women you can expect to live to 65. You will see of course, why others have said it's probably a question that cannot be answered any more specifically because of so many variations. Your second question is hard to answer too because there is no such thing as 'average' which is a figure that adds everything together and then divides. I was diagnosed 2 years ago (aged 56) and am still on 10 units of Lantus once a day and a unit or 2 of novarapid.
 
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LooperCat

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I was diagnosed T1 in my twenties, had a few years of good control followed by a few of terrible control, and now I have excellent control of my levels - so have zero idea of how that’s impacted my life expectancy. Not much point in worrying about it, I could get hit by a bus this afternoon.

FWIW I take 25-30 units of insulin a day depending on hormones :)

Edited to add that I didn’t get hit by a bus, so I’ve got to go to work tomorrow :(
 
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Circuspony

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I was diagnosed at 43 and the nurse said to me that with decent control it should have a minimal impact because any damage to my organs will happen late on in life. My only concern with that is I have huge swings in BG which aren't reflected in my.hba1c

BUT - i was on a trial for newly dx T1 and the consultant did say that some people win or lose in the T1 genetic lottery. He's known people live into their 80s with pretty ropey control (they didn't have the tools for most of their lives) & others who have suffered with eye and other problems within just a few years of dx.
 

WuTwo

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Yep - I think it's the luck of the draw every time. Just hope for the best and grab life by the throat :joyful:
 
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Daibell

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Hi. There is no reason to believe someone born with T1 will have different life expectancy than LADA diagnosed later in life. It all depends on how well blood sugar is managed thru the years
 
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@Daibell you have piqued my interest.
So, with an expectation my knuckles maybe rapped for derailing the thread, I will ask ...
I have heard of some babies less than a year old being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This maybe what you were referring to but ... are any babies born with type 1? Is it possible to be born with an autoimmune condition?
 

kitedoc

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@helensaramay, @Daibell , @LionChild ,
From looking at liyerature and oersonal experience over time, not as health professional opinion or advice:

Looking at Neonatal diabetes mellitus and choosing Wikipedia as the least cpmlex article of several, it appears that high blood sugars in newborn and in the first 6 months of life appear to be either temporary related to glucose infusions, severe infections or nerve system problema at a rate of 1 in 45,000 to 60,000 live births but about 30 % of the total number become permanently diabetic on the basis of a whole host of genetic problems which affect things the development of the pancreas gland and beta cells, the production of insulin, abnormalitues in cells that sense blood sugar and so on. Some the genetic troubles causes poor development of other hormone porducing glands and those children died in early life, orhers have mental retatrdation and liver/ kidney ptoblems and still others were not so afflicted but developed MODY ( Maturity Onset Diabetes of Youth) near puberty.
The prognosis of those other than as stated above were not detailed.

Statistics about diabetes in general and longevity in particular do to take time to be generated and can change over time with scientific advances. Also with conditions like LADA and T2D it can be difficult to know for how long bsls have been high the literature in general seems to point to high bsls as a major determinant of appearance of diabetes complications due damage of the microciculation such as to eye, kidney and nerves, plus high bsls and high insulin quantities in the body to damage to major blood vessels such as coronary heart disease, strokes etc.

In terms of microciculation the one go-to study is in Type 1 diabetics called DCCT and its follow up one called the EPIC study showing that early tight control of bsls ( particularly in first 6 1/2 years or so) was associated with less diabetic complications over time.
Whilst one cannot truly extrapolate that to all diabetics it does give an idea of how long bsls may need to be elevated before damage is fully evident. And there are anecdotal evidence that even after eye, kidney or nerve complications have developed that improved BSL can lead to improvement and sometimes total remission of such complications.
If one has severe kidney issues or nerve ones, that may affect lifespan if the stats are to be believed.
Heart disease is correlated with high bsls on an epidiological basis but there is vigorous debate on whether reduction of cholesterol etc makes a difference to any large blood vessel diseases or to lifespan( subscribe to zoeharcombe.com to see why).

So i do not think there is a simple answer beyond:
Keeping bsls as close to a non-diabetic level,
Perhaps controversial but avoiding high carb and low fat diet
Undetaking regular exercise
Being careful on the roads!
 

KK123

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I was diagnosed at 43 and the nurse said to me that with decent control it should have a minimal impact because any damage to my organs will happen late on in life. My only concern with that is I have huge swings in BG which aren't reflected in my.hba1c

BUT - i was on a trial for newly dx T1 and the consultant did say that some people win or lose in the T1 genetic lottery. He's known people live into their 80s with pretty ropey control (they didn't have the tools for most of their lives) & others who have suffered with eye and other problems within just a few years of dx.

Circuspony, my Mum was one of them. She was what you might call a brittle/chronic type 1 in that her control was as bad as it could be (despite her efforts), in and out of hospital countless times, highs and lows on a daily basis (anything between coma hypo's and coma hyper's) despite all our efforts and that of the Drs & Consultants. This went on for 50 odd years and yes, her eyesight was poor (her glasses were an inch thick) but the rest of her was great! She was 82 when she died. I still think diabetes robbed her of some of her health and years but even the Consultants said they didn't know how she had done it. x
 
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Notorious

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@LionChild I don't think anyone can tell you because there won't be much data on people diagnosed so late in life. As an anecdote, my grandfather was diagnosed with type 1 in his 50's and lived till the age of 77 with minimal complications except for the beginnings of cateracts.

Type 1 does tend to take a little more off the life expectancy of women than men. My personal theory with that is because heart disease affects women slightly differently to men and maybe diabetes makes that particular variation worse.

But here's no reason why with good blood glucose control using the new technology available to us that we can't defy previous life expectancy models. We're a pioneer generation with tools available to us that previous diabetics did not.
 

kitedoc

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And from an epidemiology viewpoint ( which cannot establish cause just association) the lower one's cholesterol is the higher the risk of cardiovacsular disease and all causes of death and the slope is steeper in woman than in men. see zoeharcombe.com - 2008. WHO data of 192 countries
This begs thevquestion of whether prescription of cholesterol lowering drugs are a concern for women more than men?
 

Ryhia

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I don't know whether it is pertinent to your question or not but both my mum and my aunt were diabetic, the difference is they started out as type 2 and gradually moved to being insulin dependent. My mum died at 89 (not diabetes related), my aunt died at 93. Didn't note any issues with my aunt and the only thing with my mum was that she had poor eyesight in later life, which she could have had in any case. I know that she really struggled with her diabetes medication as a type 2 as it did not agree with her of course she followed a high carb diets as recommended so consequently her bloods used to run quite high, guess that's why she ended up taking insulin.
 

Marie 2

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They used to say it knocked 20 years off your life. They don't anymore.

One of the theories is the older you develop type 1 and you are well controlled the less time for complications to cause an issue.
This I have been told by health professionals.
New technology nowadays allows for much better control.
They are better at addressing some of the issues that happen.

But I'm not sure there is an answer for you out there? Because there is now some people that have had diabetes for 60 years and going strong and the new technology hasn't been around long enough to know if life expectancy outlook has improved with most of it? And I ran across something I was reading that said there is no reason it should shorten your life span now if it is well controlled. (And no I don't remember where as I didn't make a note of it, I just remember thinking huh and moving on.)

Far different from years of old when my uncle died from it in the 40's and he was only about 30 years old.
 
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Red_Fox22

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I have not seen any data on this either but it stands to reason on average, surely, the later in life you develop a chronic condition, the less impact it should have on average life expectancy.

I do recall my first endo pointing out that LADA is often considered "milder" than classic T1 in that it developers in adults who have fully developed bodies/organs etc. Contrast this with growing up as a child with the condition, it may cause defects or retardation of parts of the body which is inevitably going to have some impact.