Diabetes hurts men, women differently: Men face heart and kidney risks, women battle mental health crisis, study shows

Men with type 2 diabetes may be more likely to develop heart and kidney disease, while women face a higher risk of mental health conditions, according to a new study tracking nearly 29,000 patients in the UK.

The study, published in PLOS Medicine, followed 28,720 people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes between 2010 and 2020. Researchers used linked primary and secondary healthcare records to track the sequence and timing of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, end-stage renal disease and mental health conditions over a median follow-up of 6.8 years.

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Women were more likely than men to develop a mental health condition such as anxiety, depression or somatoform disorders after being diagnosed with diabetes. Such conditions were recorded in 8.1% of women, compared with 5.3% of men.

Men, meanwhile, were more likely to follow a trajectory involving cardiovascular disease or end-stage renal disease. This was seen in 8.4% of men compared with 5.3% of women.

Hypertension most common complication

Hypertension emerged as the most common complication after type 2 diabetes across age groups and both sexes. It affected 21.1% of men and 20.2% of women.

The study also found that men generally developed complications earlier than women, while women tended to experience these events later.

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Senior endocrinologist Prof Ravinder Goswami of AIIMS said diabetes can affect men and women differently. Men may develop diabetes at a younger age, while women with diabetes lose the natural protection against heart disease usually seen before menopause, according to Anuja Jaiswal’s Times of India report.

The study also indicated that women with diabetes may face a higher risk of problems related to memory, thinking and mental health. However, Goswami cautioned that these issues may not be caused by diabetes alone, as cognitive and neuropsychiatric problems are generally more common among women.

He said doctors should keep these issues in mind while managing patients with diabetes.

Mental health linked to earlier death

The researchers also examined the relationship between diabetes, mental health and mortality. They found that people who developed a mental health condition after diabetes died earlier.

Among people following the same disease trajectory, men died on average nine years younger than women.

Despite their higher risk of mental health conditions, men had lower healthcare use in the high-risk mental health trajectory. Researchers said this could indicate gaps in men's engagement with healthcare services.

Women, meanwhile, had higher average healthcare utilisation and longer-term prescribing than men.

Need for sex-specific diabetes care

The findings suggest that diabetes care may need to account for differences between men and women. The researchers recommended routine mental health screening, particularly among younger women, along with earlier monitoring for cardiovascular and kidney complications in men.

Tracking the sequence and timing of complications could also help doctors identify patients at higher risk and intervene earlier.

However, the researchers noted that the study was observational and therefore cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship. Differences in mental health diagnoses could also partly reflect differences in healthcare-seeking behaviour.

(With inputs from TOI)