Experts say the link to heart disease is probably not fully understood.
A large study has found that young people with diabetes are at higher risk of sudden death.
Danish researchers found that people with diabetes are significantly more likely to suffer sudden cardiac death than healthy people of the same age.
Surprisingly, the risk was highest in people aged 30 to 40 with type 1 diabetes, a genetic form of the disease.
This high-risk group is 20 times more likely to die from heart disease.
Thirty-year-olds with type 2 diabetes (linked to being overweight and lack of exercise) were almost six times more likely to develop the disease.
People with diabetes often use blood glucose monitors like the one pictured to measure how much sugar is currently circulating in their bloodstream, which can help them decide what to eat and when to use insulin to best manage their disease.
Experts say the findings prove it’s important for young diabetics to be monitored for heart disease.
“This is very exciting,” says Professor Elijah Bear, a cardiologist at St George’s, University of London.
“It has long been known that diabetes increases the risk of heart disease, but the magnitude of this effect was probably not understood.”
“It doesn’t necessarily change current treatment, but it does indicate that people with diabetes should be monitored more closely because they may be at risk for other, more common, complications.”
According to the British Heart Foundation, 12 people under the age of 35 die every week in the UK from sudden cardiac death (cardiac arrest of unknown cause).
Around 4.4 million people in the UK have type 2 diabetes and a further 400,000 have type 1 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes can be managed with a healthy diet and regular exercise, and sometimes medication if these measures are ineffective, but people with type 1 diabetes need to take regular doses of insulin, a hormone that lowers blood sugar levels.
Both types of diabetes can lead to serious complications, including blindness and heart disease, if left untreated, but until now it was unclear how early these complications became serious risks.
“If you identify people with diabetes, you need to monitor them for heart-related symptoms,” said Professor Jacob Tfeldt-Hansen, a diabetes expert at the University of Copenhagen, who presented the findings at the European Society of Cardiology conference last month.
“Up to 50% of young people who experience sudden cardiac death have been found to have symptoms such as fainting or angina (chest pain).”
