MedPage Today on May 22, 2012, reported a dramatic drop in cardiovascular death rates for folks with diabetes:
The death rate from cardiovascular disease in U.S. adults with diabetes fell 40% from 1997 to 2004, CDC and NIH researchers said.
And that’s not all:
Additionally, all-cause mortality in diabetic participants dropped by 23% (95% CI 10% to 35%), Gregg and colleagues reported, from 20.3 to 15.1 per 1,000 person-years after adjusting for age.
The researchers identified several factors that likely account for the improved life expectancy for diabetic Americans.
Among them was the “steady improvements in quality and organization of care, self-management behaviors, and medical treatments, including pharmacological treatment of hyperlipidemia and hypertension,” Gregg and colleagues suggested.
The MedPage Today article didn’t define cardiovascular disease. It typically includes heart attacks, heart failure, strokes, aortic aneurysms, among a few others.
Hope that cheers you up!
PS: Here’s the original research article in the current issue of Diabetes Care.
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 
These people may still be living, but are they healthier? Probably not.
Good question, Brenna, but hard to answer. FWIW, most of my patients with multiple diabetic complications are still glad to be alive.
-Steve
Dr. Parker:
Thank you for sharing the good news. That is most positive.
Hopefully on the type 2 diabetic front we all can also achieve such excellent results.
Not only that, Jim. I read a rare autopsy study done in Olmstead County Minnesota a few years ago that suggested the prevalence of coronary artery disease in the general population was lower than it was several decades ago.
-Steve
With diabetics becoming more aware of the role diet and carbs play in the disease AND accepting responsibility to do something about diet themselves rather than expecting doctors to do everything for them, maybe death and complication rates will fall even more.
Yes, Frank, I’d like to see patients take a more active role in their care, when able.
-Steve