The Worst Time To Develop Diabetes: Middle Age

Filed in archive Lifestyle on October 25, 2006

As if there weren't already enough reasons to develop a mid-life crisis, research continues to show that 'middle age' is the worst time to contract diabetes, more unhealthy than developing the disease 'early' or 'late' in life. Unfortunately, 'middle age' is the most common time to develop Type 2 diabetes.

Researchers found those who had been diagnosed with diabetes during middle age, defined as between 40 and 64 years, suffered from a very different set of health problems related to the disease than those diagnosed later in life.

For example, those diagnosed in middle age had more cases of retinopathy, an eye condition related to diabetes that affects the tiny blood vessels in the eye.

They also had much worse blood sugar control. Nearly 60 percent of the elderly with middle age-diagnosed diabetes had poor blood sugar control, compared with 42 percent of those with later-onset diabetes, the researchers said.

As we approach 40 and beyond, we need to be extra vigilant about our health, including frequent diabetes screenings. How do you keep healthy?