title: Improvements in life expectancy in adult type 2 diabetes patients in the last six decades.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the historical changes in survival with diabetes in adult type 2 diabetes patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed 9066 deaths, 54.2% males, registered at "I. Pavel" Bucharest Diabetes Centre, aged 40-64 years and deceased between 1943 and 2009. We split the analysis in three time periods according to year of death: 1943-1965, 1966-1988 and 1989-2009.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age at diabetes onset was 55.5 ± 6.2 years, with mean disease duration at death 12.7 ± 8.2 years and mean age at death 68.2 ± 8.7 years. The mean disease duration at death was 9.9 ± 7.3 years in 1943-1965 period, followed by a significant (p<0.001) rise to 12.2 ± 8.2 years in 1966-1988, and 14 ± 8.1 years (p < 0.001) in 1989-2009. There was a significant increase for coronary heart diseases and cancer and a significant decrease for infections and end-stage renal disease as causes of death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found a significant increase in age at onset and survival with diabetes leading to a significant increase in age at death.
authors.affiliation: N Paulescu National Institute of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases, Diabetes 1, Bucharest, Romania. drsorin@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Sorin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ioacara
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guja
authors.forename: Constantin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ionescu-Tirgoviste
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fica
authors.forename: Sorin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sabau
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Radu
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Micu
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tiu
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D002423:Cause of Death; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged