Women in the UK with Type 2 diabetes have a 60 per cent increased risk of an early death and will live five years less than the average woman, early research has suggested.

Scientists have also found that men with the disease have a 44% increased risk of dying prematurely and live 4.5 years less.

Results also suggest that smoking shortens the life expectancy of people with Type 2 diabetes by 10 years, while diagnosis at a younger age cuts life expectancy by more than eight years.

The findings, presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm, are based on a cohort of nearly 12,000 patients at the Salford Royal Hospital.

‘Greater effect on life expectancy of women’

Dr Adrian Heald, of Salford Royal Hospital, said: “Our modelling suggests that Type 2 diabetes has a greater effect on the life expectancy of women, smokers and those diagnosed at a younger age.

“A woman with Type 2 diabetes, for example, might live five years less than the average woman in the general population, while someone diagnosed at a younger age might lose eight years of life expectancy.

“It is vital that the groups at the highest risk are made aware of not just the increased risk that they face, but also the size of the risk.

“Doing so may make the health advice they are given seem more relevant and so help them make changes that can improve their quality – and length – of life.”

The researchers calculated the life expectancy of 11,806 Type 2 diabetes patients at Salford Royal Hospital between 2010 and 2020. They compared this with life expectancy figures for the general population of the same age and sex.

The team also took into account the lifestyle and demographic factors that may affect the life expectancy of individuals with Type 2 diabetes.

The scientists found that the risk of an early death was 84 per cent higher in people with diabetes than in the general population.

Type 2 diabetes was shown to have a greater effect on the life expectancy of people diagnosed at a younger age, with those below 65 showing a 93 per cent higher risk of an early death.

The modelling also found that people with Type 2 diabetes who smoked were 2.5 times more likely to die prematurely than people in the general population.

There are more than 4.9 million people with diabetes in the UK, 90 per cent of whom have Type 2 diabetes.

Figures from Diabetes UK also indicate that around 13.6 million people are at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.