Number of UK diabetics reaches all time high and has the potential to 'cripple' the NHS

THE amount of people living with diabetes in the UK has reached record heights and could place an incredible strain on NHS, reveals shocking research.

 

For the first time ever, the number of diabetic Britons has topped four million

 

For the first time ever, the number of diabetic Britons has topped four million - an increase of over 60 per cent in a decade.

Data analysed by Diabetes UK, shows 4.05million people are now living with the life-threatening condition - this includes 3.5m adults who have been officially diagnosed and some 549,000 people are also believed to have Type 2 diabetes but are currently undiagnosed.

Figures have shot up 119,965 on last year’s figures and increased by 65 per cent in just a decade.

If this worrying trend continues, an estimated five million people will have diabetes by 2025 - bringing with it a very serious public health risk.

Type 2 diabetes is linked to unhealthy lifestyles, including obesity. 

 

Obesity is one of the main causes of type 2 diabetes

 

Experts have called for a concerted effort led by the Government to take active steps to address the fact that almost two in every three people in the UK are overweight or obese and are therefore at increased risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Chris Askew, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: "With four million people in the UK now living with diabetes, the need to tackle this serious health condition has never been so stark or so urgent.

"Basic measures such as making healthy food cheaper and more accessible, introducing clearer food labelling and making it easier for people to build physical activity into their daily lives would have a profound influence."

It is a potentially fatal condition. According to Diabetes UK, more than 24,000 people with diabetes die prematurely every year due to failures in accessing the best type of care.

This includes receiving eight annual checks in areas such as foot care and eyesight.

The checks - which only 60 per cent of people with diabetes currently receive - are designed to prevent complications which can lead to limb amputation, blindness, kidney failure and even death.

 

In 10 years, over five million Britons could be diabetic

 

The charity also warned that people are missing out on education courses designed to help them best manage their condition, with more than a third of regions in England still not running them.

Hospital care for people with diabetes is consistently poor and puts some lives at risk, it said.

Almost 80 per cent of the £10bn spent on diabetes every year by the NHS goes on treating complications that may have been preventable.

Mr Askew said: "Tragically, we are continuing to see too many people with diabetes suffering serious complications, and even dying before their time, and we know that key reasons for this are that they are being denied both the care and access to education that would help them to manage their condition well.

"It is vital that we start to see people with diabetes receive good quality care wherever they live rather than them being at the mercy of a postcode lottery."

  

Doctors warn this steep rise could put immense strain on an already burdened NHS

 

He added: "With a record number of people living with diabetes, there is no time to waste in getting serious about providing better care and diabetes education.

"Until this happens, the rising number of people with diabetes will continue to be denied the best chance of living long and healthy lives and the NHS will continue to be crippled under avoidable but escalating costs of treating poorly-managed diabetes."

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: "Sadly, too many people suffer from Type 2 diabetes and its serious health consequences.

"We must help prevent those at high risk of developing it from doing so.

"The NHS diabetes prevention programme, due to begin national rollout in the spring, will help people make the lifestyle changes that lessen their risk - eating more healthily, being more physically active and achieving a healthy weight and waist size."