A large multinational analysis suggests that the leading causes of death among individuals with diabetes mellitus are shifting in high-income countries, reflecting improvements in cardiovascular care over the past two decades. The population-based study analyzed administrative health data from 11 jurisdictions between 2000 and 2023, covering nearly 1.7 billion person-years of follow-up. Overall, 2.7 million deaths occurred among people with diabetes and 11 million among those without the condition. Researchers assessed cause-specific mortality trends using age- and sex-standardized models.
Deaths related to cardiovascular disease declined across all jurisdictions in both groups. Among individuals with diabetes, the mean 5-year reduction in cardiovascular mortality ranged from 8.3% to 25.4%. Mortality attributed directly to diabetes also decreased in most regions. In contrast, mortality…
