Men with type 1 diabetes are better at blood sugar control than women, large European study suggests

Date: Sep-27-2013Men with type 1 diabetes are better at blood sugar control than women, large European study suggests

Main Category: Diabetes

Also Included In: Men's Health

Article Date: 27 Sep 2013 - 0:00 PDT

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Men with type 1 diabetes are better at blood sugar control than women, large European study suggests


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Men with type 1 diabetes appear to be better at blood sugar control than women, but there is no significant difference in blood sugar control between boys and girls. These are the findings of new research presented at this week's annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Barcelona, Spain. The research is by Professor Sarah Wild, University of Edinburgh, UK, and colleagues from the International quality of care for type 1 diabetes group.

Since there are limited data showing differences in blood sugar control in type 1 diabetes between the sexes, Wild and colleagues investigated this issue using a large international dataset analysing patients from 12 countries (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Latvia, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, United States), representing a total of 142,260 child and adult patients.

The researchers analysed blood sugar control over the previous 12 to 24 months derived from both population-based registers and clinic databases. The comparison was the proportions of people with HbA1c ≥7.5% (58mmol/mol) for females compared to males, adjusted for age and duration of diabetes within three age strata that broadly represent paediatric (

The team found that proportions of people with HbA1c ≥7.5% (and therefore worse blood sugar control) ranged from 64.4% in boys

Dr Wild concludes: "In this analysis of type 1 diabetes data from several countries males were more likely to have a better blood sugar control profile than females. Further work is required to investigate explanations for this finding."

She adds: "One explanation could be that women tend to have lower haemoglobin levels than men which could explain the higher HbA1c levels, but further research is required to confirm this."

Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.