Although the incidence of diabetes has doubled in the U.K. and Canada, death rates in diabetics have fallen significantly over the last decade. This story is mostly about type 2 diabetes. An article at MedPageToday suggests explanations for the trend:
“Although caution should be exercised in identifying a trend-shift in the prognosis of patients with diabetes, more aggressive treatment during recent decades may be applicable to the present results,” Lind and colleagues observed.
Factors that may have contributed include the greater emphasis placed on glycemic control, lowering blood pressure, and use of statins.
However, the decrease in excess mortality also may relate to shorter duration of disease, the researchers pointed out.
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 