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:: DIABETES NEWS
OF THE DAY 
One Person Diagnosed With Diabetes Every Three Minutes In
The UK
– 6th January
One person is diagnosed with diabetes
every three minutes* in the UK, according to new figures
from Diabetes UK. The leading health charity, which has
released the shocking statistic to mark its 75th
Anniversary, says the number of people diagnosed with the
condition is growing faster than ever. This is particularly
worrying for Black and minority ethnic groups as Type 2
diabetes is up to three times more common in Black people
and up to six times more common in South Asian people. In
the UK more than 300,000 people from Black and minority
ethnic groups have diabetes5.
Diabetes UK has looked in detail at
official figures and found that almost 150,000 people were
diagnosed with diabetes in 2008. In the previous year this
number was 100,000. This is a conservative estimate as, when
taking into account the people with the condition who have
died in the past year, the number of new cases could be as
high as 180,000. Other figures suggest that 20 per cent of
the South Asian community and 17 per cent of the Black
African and Caribbean communities have Type 2 diabetes in
contrast to three per cent of the general population6.
The charity is especially keen to
reach people from Black and minority ethnic groups as they
are likely to develop the condition and its various
complications at a younger age than the rest of the
population. There are currently 2.5 million people in the UK
with diabetes and it is estimated that more than half a
million people have the condition but do not know it.
Douglas Smallwood, Chief Executive of
Diabetes UK, said: "This week 75 years ago, Diabetes UK was
created and although we continue to work tirelessly to
improve people's health, diabetes remains one of the biggest
health challenges of our time. We must protect the health of
the nation by taking urgent steps to further raise awareness
of diabetes and its complications.
"Diabetes UK wants the Government to
put diabetes at the top of the health agenda in 2009. People
need to be supported to make changes to their lifestyle,
such as eating healthily, losing weight if appropriate and
being physically active, in order to reduce their risk of
developing Type 2 diabetes. We also need to make sure that
anyone diagnosed with the condition has access to the best
possible care, information and support in order to reduce
their risk of developing the serious complications of the
condition."
Diabetes is a serious condition that
can lead to long-term complications such as heart disease,
stroke, blindness, kidney failure and amputation. Short-term
complications include hypoglycaemic episodes, known as
'hypos', which can lead to unconsciousness and
hospitalisation if left untreated, and persistent high blood
glucose levels can lead to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which
if untreated can be fatal. For those with diabetes morbidity
is also much higher, especially heart disease (two to three
times higher in South Asians)7, renal failure (four times
higher in Asians)8 and stroke (three times higher in
African-Caribbeans)9.
2009 is Diabetes UK's 75th anniversary and the
charity wants to use this special year as an opportunity to
further raise awareness of
diabetes and its complications.
Events to mark this special occasion will be taking place
around the country. Diabetes UK's mission is to improve the
lives of people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and work towards a
world without diabetes. This year the charity is committed
to spending around £8 million funding a variety of research
projects.
Diabetes UK was set up on 10 January
1934 by the novelist HG Wells - Author of The Time Machine
and The War of the Worlds - and Dr RD Lawrence, both of whom
had diabetes. The charity's aim was to ensure that everyone
in the UK could gain access to insulin, whatever their
financial situation. This was a ground-breaking initiative
prior to the existence of a national health service. The
organisation (previously called the Diabetic Association and
then the British Diabetic Association) has always challenged
ideas of how people with diabetes should be treated and from
the start believed in a partnership working between the
people with diabetes and healthcare professionals to support
active self-management of the condition. The organisation
actively campaigned for the establishment of the NHS and our
underlying principles of proactive control and lobbying
continue to this day.
Notes:
*Figures based on the findings of a
Diabetes UK report, Diabetes in the UK 2008: key statistics,
to be published in January 2009.
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