Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity

Understanding the Impact of Gender and Sex on Diabetes Incidence, Complications, and Treatment

Over 10% of the world’s population has diabetes, a major contributor to coronary heart disease, stroke peripheral vascular disease, end-stage renal disease, retinopathy, neuropathy, and lower-extremity amputations. While diabetes prevalence is similar in male and female populations, there are critical differences in how and when diabetes presents by sex and gender. For example, adult women tend to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes later in life and have a higher BMI at diagnosis than men, resulting in the condition having often progressed further prior to diagnosis. In addition, complications from diabetes, such as cardiovascular disease, are more common in women with diabetes than in men with diabetes, and women are more likely than men to die from these complications.