However, those diagnosed later in life do not have a better prognosis than those diagnosed earlier, according to the study conducted by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, which pointed to smoking, poor glucose control and obesity as the main risk factors.
Research on adult-onset type 1 diabetes is limited, so the team wanted to investigate the risk of cardiovascular disease and death in this group, particularly for those diagnosed after the age of 40.
The study, published in European Heart Journal, identified 10,184 people diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in adulthood between 2001 and 2020 and compared them to 509,172 matched people in the control group.
The study shows that these people with adult-onset type 1 diabetes had a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death from all causes, including cancer and infections, compared to the control group.
Yuxia Wei, postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, said the main reasons for the poor prognosis are smoking, overweight/obesity and poor glucose control.
“We found that they were less likely to use assistive devices, such as insulin pumps,” Wei added.
Researchers plan to continue investigating adult-onset type 1 diabetes, including risk factors for developing the disease and the prognosis of other outcomes, such as microvascular complications. Optimal treatment in adult-onset type 1 diabetes, including the effect of pump use and other advanced technologies, also needs to be explored.
The study was funded by the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Diabetes Foundation, among others. The researchers report that there are no conflicts of interest.
The results emphasise the seriousness of type 1 diabetes, even when it starts later in life, said the researchers.