"Researchers found that the death rates of diabetic men dropped in recent decades, while those of diabetic women increased. It's not clear why the discrepancy exists. "

""I do not have a clue," said Dr. Larry Deeb, president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association (ADA), when asked why women are falling behind. "But I do know that it argues that something we're doing isn't right. If you're a woman, and you have diabetes, it may be we're not aggressive enough about taking care of you.""

"In the new study, researchers led by Edward Gregg, an epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, examined health surveys spanning 1971 to 2000 to determine the death rates of Americans with diabetes. The researchers looked at about 27,000 people."

"They found that among diabetic men, the death rate from all causes dipped from 42.6 to 24.4 deaths per 1,000 persons between the two time periods. "

"Among men, "their mortality rates have declined," Gregg said, "and they've kept pace with their non-diabetic counterparts.""

"But among diabetic women, the death rate actually rose from 18.4 to 25.9 per 1,000, even as the life span of non-diabetic women grew longer."

"Death rates from cardiovascular disease, in particular, stayed steady among women with diabetes while dropping among diabetic men."

"Why are women with diabetes at such high risk? "We can speculate on a few possibilities, that risk factors for things such as heart disease haven't declined as much among women as in men," Gregg said. "Another possibility is that women haven't gotten as aggressive or comprehensive treatment as men have over the years.""

"The ADA's Deeb, who's familiar with the study findings, said the research appears to be sound. "I don't think we can discount it," he said. "I think it's real.""

"An estimated 9.7 million American women have diabetes, and almost one-third of them don't know it. Women with diabetes are more likely to
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