Boom in diabetes diagnoses on the horizon, warns NHS and charity

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Around 5.3 million people in the UK are expected to be living with diabetes by 2025, following a stark increase in the number of diagnoses over the past year. The charity Diabetes UK claimed that more than 100,000 more people received a diabetes diagnosis over the past 12 months, taking the total number of people with the condition to 3.9 million. Meanwhile, the NHS has warned that 1.9 million people registered with a GP in England are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes as they have non-diabetic hyperglycaemia. This is the highest figure for this condition on record. Ninety per cent of those with diabetes have the type 2 variant, which increases their risk of dying prematurely by 50%, according to Diabetes UK. People with type 2 diabetes are also two to two-and-a-half times more likely to experience heart failure and twice more likely to have a heart attack compared to people without diabetes. The charity also estimates that there are almost one million more people living with the type 2 variant but who have not yet received a diagnosis, bringing the total number of people thought to have diabetes up to 4.8 million. The NHS suggests that the growing number of diabetes diagnoses could see 39,000 additional people suffer a heart attack and 50,000 more experience a stroke in 2035. Diabetes UK chief executive Chris Askew said: “Type 2 diabetes is an urgent public health crisis, and solving it depends on decisive action that’s led by government, supported by industry and delivered across our society. “More than half of all cases of type 2 diabetes − and the accompanying risk of developing devastating complications − could be prevented or delayed by supporting people to make healthier choices. This includes mandating industry to make food and drinks healthier and addressing the marketing and promotion of unhealthy foods. “At the same time, we need to help people understand their personal risk of type 2 diabetes and find tailored clinical support to reduce it.â