Will we live to a ripe old age

[tristan]

Does having diabetes steal years from us?

If we are in control of our blood glucose levels and have plenty of exercise
Will we live to a ripe old age or are we going to live a shorter life due to having this condition, no matter how well we manage it

I'm hoping under control we have just the same chances

Your thoughts ?

 

[douglas99]

Depends on your lifestyle.
What do you want to die of?

 

[wiflib]

My take on this is that if we hold non diabetic numbers for as long as we can, unless that bus gets us, we should live as long as we would have done without diabetes. However, I want quality of life, it took my dad 30 years to rot away to diabetes and he died at 88.
My mother is still alive at 96 with massively high blood pressure and on a diet of Mr Kipling cakes and buckets of tea.

 

[Robinredbreast]

Depends on what cards you are dealt with, diabetes may not end it all, rather than another medical condition or a sudden diagnosis, cancer or heart attack or even a road accident. Enjoy your life, we are on this earth a very short time.

 

[walnut_face]

Early days. Seems that the desire to fight/reverse/whatever T2D is fairly new. Traditionally the relative few (to now) who had it died early of complications. Underwriters offer enhance annuities from T2D, and it not because they feel for us.

 

[tristan]

Just thinking apart from accident, heart attacks and cancer, would controlled diet and lifestyle diabetic still be behind the 8ball. Or do we see this as not really limiting our lives

 

[Bluetit1802]

Just thinking apart from accident, heart attacks and cancer, would controlled diet and lifestyle diabetic still be behind the 8ball. Or do we see this as not really limiting our lives

I don't see it as limiting my life at all. It possibly would if I had buried my head in the sand and done nothing about it, but having seen my husband's best friend die at the age of 40 from diabetic complications in the mid 1980's (he was T1 in the days before more advanced insulin treatment). He lost most of his sight, could barely walk, had a kidney transplant, a "silent" heart attack and various other things. I was determined that would not happen to me. It won't - unless I let it.

 

[wiseowl_123]

Good afternoon I try and treat my diabetes like a common cold with just an occasional sneeze now and again,they haven't found a cure for that yet,I have reached my 3 score and 10 years anyway ,so onwards and upwards,every day is a bonus

 

[Squire Fulwood]

There is the issue of how long you had T2 before anyone noticed. This could mean that some damage already occurred. Mind you I think that controlling blood sugar and some exercise will stop it progressing at anything like the rate it would have done.

Another reason for wishing to live to 110 is to see if all that cobblers about Metformin has any truth to it.

 

[Robbity]

It depends on what you consider a rope old age! I'd rather die slightly younger with all my wits and faculties available still, than live in a state of dementia to 96 like my mum or to well over 100 like my poor old equally "away with the fairies" MIL.

I'll opt for quality of life any day rather than quantity, and if I continue to take care I'll - hopefully! - carry on for a few more years with my well controlled (according to my GP) diabetic but rather elderly body.

Robbity

 

[JohnEGreen]

It depends on many variables but the general view is that Diabetes takes about eight years off life expectancy.

Metformin seems to have advantages though.

"What we found was illuminating," said lead author Professor Craig Currie from Cardiff University's School of Medicine.

"Patients treated with metformin had a small but statistically significant improvement in survival compared with the cohort of non-diabetics, whereas those treated with sulphonylureas had a consistently reduced survival compared with non-diabetic patients. This was true even without any clever statistical manipulation.

"Surprisingly, the findings indicate that this cheap and widely prescribed diabetic drug may have beneficial effects not only on patients with diabetes but also for people without, and interestingly, people with type 1 diabetes. Metformin has been shown to have anti-cancer and anti-cardiovascular disease benefits. It can also reduce pre-diabetics' chances of developing the disease by a third.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140807215552.htm

then there was Bob Krause diagnosed T1 in 1926 and died in March 2012 (D for about 85 years).

and Gladys Dull who was diagnosed T1 in 1924 and died in about 2009 I think (also D for about 85 years).

 

[douglas99]

I suppose a ripe old age is living as long as you can, and dieing quietly in your sleep?

I want to die doing something entirely inappropriate, (and probably very stupid), wide awake, and I certainly want to see it coming. (Briefly)
So I suppose I wouldn't like diabetes to take my chances of doing that, but equally I don't want avoiding diabetic complications to take away from doing that either.
Overall, I don't think it'll have much impact in the overall scheme in stealing years off me.

 

[Prem51]

T2 diagnosis might have added years to my life as I am fitter and generally healthier than before due to changed approach to eating and exercise.

 

[zand]

Has anyone thought that maybe having diabetes could actually lengthen your life span? The good thing about being diabetic is that you get at least annual health checks. You also know that you need to rectify any bad lifestyle choices. So when you are over the initial shock of diagnosis you can be empowered to take your health into your own hands, improve diet, exercise more etc, thus reducing the chance of any other nasties like high BP which may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Edit @Prem51 great minds think alike lol

 

[britishpub]

Getting old has never appealed much.....

 

[zand]

Getting old has never appealed much.....

oh, but you can get old/advanced in years without 'being old'...

 

[JohnEGreen]

I want to die doing something entirely inappropriate

Yeh like base jumping the Eiffel tower at 99

 

[Pura Vida]

I believe there are some members of this board that are in their late 80.,would be nice to hear from them.

 

[al_leister]

Don't mind, if I grow old; not sure about Ripe, though.

 

[Pura Vida]