- The number of British adults with diabetes has hit 3.2 million
- A further 850,000 are believed to have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes
- The rise is linked to Britons’ poor diets and being overweight
By
Jenny Hope
19:02 EST, 9 February 2014
|
19:02 EST, 9 February 2014
The number of British adults with diabetes has risen to more than 3.2?million – up by a million in just seven years.
New figures show 163,000 people were diagnosed with the condition last year, the biggest total in a year since 2008.
This brings the total to 3,208,014 adults with diabetes – or one in 17 of the population. In 2006, the figure was 2.2?million.
Worrying: The reason behind the alarming spike in cases is Britain’s growing obesity crisis. File picture
A further 850,000 are thought to have undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes, according to charity Diabetes UK, which blames the ‘unfolding public health disaster’ on the country’s obesity crisis.
Nine out of ten people with diabetes have Type 2, which occurs when the body gradually loses the ability to process blood sugar, leading to high levels which can damage organs.
It is strongly linked to being overweight and unhealthy diets.
The NHS spends £14?billion a year – 10 per cent of its budget – treating diabetes and its complications.
The NHS spends £14bn a year treating diabetes and it complications. Pictured, A blood test to detect diabetes
Every year in England and Wales, 24,000 people with diabetes die earlier than expected, a situation that is expected to get even worse without urgent action.
Diabetes UK wants local NHS organisations to fully implement the NHS Health Check, which should be offered to everyone aged 40 to 74, to help identify people at high risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Chief executive Barbara Young said: ‘The big increase in the number of people with diabetes confirms that we are in the middle of an unfolding public health disaster that demands urgent action. It is frightening to think that one in 17 people has been diagnosed.
‘Firstly, we need more focus on preventing Type 2 diabetes, as this is the only way we can bring the rapid rise in diabetes cases under control. This means properly implementing the NHS Health Check so we can identify more people at high risk, and then making sure they get the support they need to reduce that risk.
‘We also need to address the obesity crisis, which is what is fuelling the increase in Type 2, by making healthy food cheaper and more accessible and by making it easier for people to build physical activity into their daily lives.
‘But as well as doing more to prevent Type 2, we need to get much better at treating diabetes because the level of priority the NHS gives the condition does not reflect the size of the shadow it is casting over our nation’s health.
‘The result is that while diabetes is hugely expensive, accounting for 10p of every pound the NHS spends, what we are getting in return for that money is healthcare that is patchy and inconsistent.
‘From access to education when people are diagnosed right the way through to the care they receive in hospital, there are too many people getting a raw deal and this is fuelling high rates of diabetes-related complications and early death.’
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Comments (78)
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Sir Passedmyself,
Almosttoolate, United Kingdom,
moments ago
Is fat in humans these days not even partially as a result of the feeds given to animals to make them grow bigger? The chemicals used to bulk out animal flesh gets into the human food chain and we just eat it oblivious to the fact that if chemicals are fed to animals, then humans will get fat eating them.
Truth,
Glasgow,
5 minutes ago
There are so many factors to why we gat fat. I have lost virtually all of my excess weight in 2013 so i feel i have a right to comment on this. It’s actually become an effort NOT to get fat nowadays. We unnecessarily eat all day long, we eat without realising it and we have a distorted view of what’s good for us and what isn’t
KNG,
Hope Valley, United Kingdom,
6 minutes ago
Another ban on its way, do not eat in your car in front of children.
Kat,
Aberdeen,
15 minutes ago
As a type 1 diabetic (the genetic type) I am sick to the back teeth of sensationalist headlines which refuse to distinguish between type 1 and type 2! They are the reason people are ignorant. I am fed up with it!
kathryn,
Aberystwyth,
27 minutes ago
Also a side affect of statins on research
maid marian,
ABERDEEN,
39 minutes ago
I get so angry at idiots that say obese people are to blame because the overeat. I have an underactive thyroid and have had for over 42 years. I have tried every diet there is plus I have cut down my food intake and I cannot lose a pound! My nhusband and I went on a diet and he lost over 3 stone and I lost NOTHING. I have had these so called miracle tablets from the doc and I didn’t lose with them either. My maternal grandmother was diabetic and I may have type 2 but I can assure these people who say that obesity is caused by overeating that I certainly DO NOT OVEREAT.
2 of 3 replies
Maggie,
Oxford,
15 minutes ago
Masha,
Walsall, United Kingdom,
moments ago
gawjus george,
liverpool, United Kingdom,
45 minutes ago
low fat food is full of sugar
Maggie,
Oxford,
15 minutes ago
Scotsgal,
Inverness,
14 minutes ago
Ericjimbob,
Tunbridge Wells, UK,
48 minutes ago
All the usual weirdo comments – and all in response o the usual Government spin that as it is the patient’s fault that they’re ill, the NHS budgets should be slashed o fund bankers mistakes and greed…
Antonio Tomasso,
Glasgow, United Kingdom,
57 minutes ago
It’s nothing to do with unhealthy food as such but with not eating properly. In general you can eat whatever you like bu never too much of it… Balanced diet. That coupled with exercise is what is needed. Also over eating is the other problem. Now nhs care shouldn’t be used on who won’t look after themselves period.
BARGET,
SOUTH YORKSHIRE, United Kingdom,
1 hour ago
People with diabetes 2 are discouraged from regular testing of their blood sugar levels, certainly no strips or meter on the NHS. I am sure it is down to cost, now if you want Methadone its a different matter.
savepenrhos.co.uk,
Holyhead-Anglesey-Wales, United Kingdom,
37 minutes ago
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