The diabetes mortality rate in Spain has been reduced by 37 percent in the last fifteen years, as reported by the Spanish Society of Family and Community Medicine (SEMFYC) today.
The Diabetes Study, presented at the Congress of the SEMFYC held last week in A Coruña, has been carried out between 1998 and 2013 to know the evolution of diabetes mortality and compare it between the different Spanish regions.
The data correspond to the continuous population register and the registration of deaths according to the cause of death of the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
In the first years analyzed there is a greater mortality in the South provinces, which disappears over the time studied.The highest mortality rates are observed in the Canary Islands.
Fernando Álvarez Guisasola, coordinator of the SemfyC Diabetes Group, explains that "the decrease in cardiovascular complications, the improvement of sanitary conditions" and "the progress of treatments and the greatest control of life habits and care" areKeys in this evolution.
"They are some of the reasons that explain this decrease in the mortality associated with diabetes in our country," said the doctor.
The study data suggest that Castilla y León, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria, Basque Country, Navarra, Madrid, Extremadura and part of Catalonia maintain the lowest mortality level in Spain, according to the same statement.
The Canary Islands has the largest mortality rate by type two diabetes, which for this doctor occurs because "different genetic and cultural causes" that explain "this high prevalence" are mixed.
"Some complications related to diabetes, such as kidney disease, are much more prevalent among the Canarian population," he continued.
On the other hand, Andalusia stands out as the Autonomous Community that has reduced this rate in the analyzed period, in which the descent together has been 37 percent.
"It is important to keep in mind that mortality is indicating how cares and degree of diabetes control have been in the last fifteen years. The improvement in attention to these people since the 1990s has contributed to the fact that in theNews begins to be reflected in the mortality figures, "he added.
In this period, significant progress has been made regarding the availability of new treatments and the greatest knowledge, through scientific studies, the importance of improving glycemic control and reducing cardiovascular complications in these patients.
"The health model that faces this pathology must be able to achieve adequate training of professionals in the management of diabetes, as well as to achieve greater participation of those affected, in order to improve the treatment and monitoring of theDiabetes, "he concluded.