People with type 1 and type 2 diabetes face a significantly higher risk of sudden cardiac death, according to a large Danish study published in the European Heart Journal. The increased risk was especially pronounced among younger adults.
Researchers analysed health data from the entire Danish population in 2010. That year, there were 54,028 deaths, including 6,862 cases of sudden cardiac death. Among those cases, 97 individuals had type 1 diabetes and 1,149 had type 2 diabetes.
Compared with people without diabetes, the risk of sudden cardiac death was 6.5 times higher in those with type 2 diabetes and 3.7 times higher in those with type 1 diabetes. The risk was greatest among younger adults: people under 50 with diabetes had a sevenfold higher risk of sudden cardiac death.
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On average, people with diabetes also had a shorter life expectancy—14.2 years shorter for those with type 1 diabetes and 7.9 years shorter for those with type 2 diabetes. Sudden cardiac death accounted for 3.4 years of life lost among people with type 1 diabetes and 2.7 years among those with type 2 diabetes.
“We found that sudden cardiac death occurs more frequently in people with diabetes across all age groups, and that sudden cardiac death has a substantial impact on the shortened life expectancy in individuals with diabetes,” the lead researcher said.
Because sudden cardiac death is difficult to predict or prevent, the findings highlight the importance of people with diabetes working closely with their clinicians to reduce cardiovascular risk.