Insulin, the standard treatment for people with type 2 diabetes, increases the risk of heart attack and stroke, researchers have discovered this week.
In the last few years, insulin has become a popular option for diabetics suffering from type 2, which has often been classified as the ‘lifestyle disease’ as it can be brought on by bad diet and a lack of exercise.
Early reports found that insulin use by type 2 diabetics tripled the risk of death, and now researchers from Cardiff University have discovered the deaths are caused by heart attack, stroke and kidney failure.
It’s always been the major treatment option for people suffering from type 1 diabetes, when the body cannot naturally produce insulin to break down sugars in foods, although the researchers don’t know if it increases death in this group.
(Source: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2013; doi: 10.1210/jc.2012-3042).
