Print | Email | Share | Comments (0)

Diabetes and Cancer Together: Which Disease to Address First?

Diabetes Health Staff

Jan 25, 2013

You're a person with diabetes who has just learned that you've been diagnosed with cancer. Which disease should take precedence in your life?

If you are like most people who have been in that situation, you are more likely to pay full attention to addressing your cancer. Your reasoning seems logical: Cancer, left untreated, can become a rapid killer. Diabetes, a manageable disease, can be ignored for awhile before any truly bad consequences set in.

However, according to a Northwestern University study, diabetic cancer patients who cease treating their high blood sugars risk weakening their immune systems so much that they can die from something other than cancer. Death-dealing non-cancerous maladies can include severe kidney damage and gangrene in slow-healing, nerve-damaged limbs.

The study at Northwestern's Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center examined five years' worth of health records for 166,000 commercial insurance patients and 56,000 Medicare Advantage patients. They found a statistically significant difference in the number of emergency room visits between cancer patients who understood the need to test and control their blood sugars regularly and cancer patients who neglected to do so.

Of the patients who were aware of the need to treat their diabetes, 65.2 percent had their A1c's tested with a doctor at least twice over a three-year period. Among those who did not actively monitor their diabetes, 48 percent had their hemoglobin tested once over the same span.
As a result, patients who actively managed their diabetes made 416 emergency room visits over three years versus 463 emergency room visits for the patients who did not manage the disease.

Researchers concluded that diabetes patients with cancer must understand the need to treat both diseases simultaneously, especially with regard to maintaining a strong immune system that can help fight cancer.

An abstract of the research is available online.

Categories: A1C, Cancer, Diabetes Health, Diabetes Health Magazine, Diabetic, Research

Comments

Add your comments about this article below. You can add comments as a registered user or anonymously. If you choose to post anonymously your comments will be sent to our moderator for approval before they appear on this page. If you choose to post as a registered user your comments will appear instantly.

When voicing your views via the comment feature, please respect the Diabetes Health community by refraining from comments that could be considered offensive to other people. Diabetes Health reserves the right to remove comments when necessary to maintain the cordial voice of the diabetes community.

For your privacy and protection, we ask that you do not include personal details such as address or telephone number in any comments posted.

Don't have your Diabetes Health Username? Register now and add your comments to all our content.

Have Your Say...

Registered User Anonymous

Your Name:	Your Email:	X

Recipient's Name:	Recipient's Email:

Your Chosen Username:	Your Email Address:

Chosen Password:	Confirm Password:

Email to a Friend

Diabetes and Cancer Together: Which Disease to Address First?

You May Also Be Interested In...

Comments

Register...

Have Your Say...

Diabetes Health

Topics

Topics

Topics

Diabetes Health Medical Disclaimer

Comment: