There has been a worrying rise in alcohol-related deaths among people with type-1 diabetes, new research shows.
Researchers in Finland investigated deaths among 17,306 under-30s with type-1 diabetes between 1970 and 1999
There has been a worrying rise in alcohol-related deaths among people with type-1 diabetes, new research shows.
Researchers in Finland investigated deaths among 17,306 under-30s with type-1 diabetes between 1970 and 1999, all of whom were followed for around 21 years.
They found that, overall, survival rates for people with early-onset type-1 diabetes have improved over time.
However, survival of patients with late-onset diabetes (between 15 and 29 years of age) has deteriorated since the 1980s.
The researchers say this is due to a rise in alcohol and drug-related deaths and complications of the disease.
Nearly two-fifths of deaths during the first 20 years of diabetes in the late-onset group were caused by alcohol or drug-related causes.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, the study authors concluded: 'This highlights the importance of permanent and long-lasting doctor-patient relationships, close supervision and guidance on the short-term and long-term effects of alcohol in young people with type-1 diabetes, especially in our alcohol permissive cultures.'
Type-1 diabetes accounts for between five