03
Mar 2020
Experts warn two million more people could become diabetic by 2025 as national obesity crisis continues to rise
The number of people in the UK with ‘pre-diabetes’, those on the brink of type 2 diabetes and who must take urgent action, has risen from 1.3 million to nearly 2 million in the last twelve months.
Currently, a sixth of the NHS hospitals budget is spent on treating patients with diabetes, affecting an estimated record four million people in Britain and costing around £14billion each year.
The figures released by NHS England show an increase in patients in England who have abnormally high blood sugar, which is also likely to lead to diabetes.
According to experts, it is expected that people with pre-diabetes will develop the condition within around five years if they do not take action to reverse the process.
Professor Mike Lean from the University of Glasgow, said “The number of people with pre-diabetes is huge and it is only getting bigger – these two million are the tip of the iceberg.
“It is very alarming because people who have pre-diabetes are extremely likely to go on to get diabetes, and behind them are many people who are not yet pre-diabetic but will be next year.”
Sir Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, said “Our bulging waistlines mean two million people are now at risk of joining the expanding ranks of those living with largely preventable type 2 diabetes.
“The NHS’s highly successful, world-leading diabetes prevention programme is helping hundreds of thousands of people take small common sense steps to get control of their own health.
“But unless many more of us make a change, obesity-related illnesses will end up costing hundreds of thousands more lives and billions of pounds in higher treatment costs.”
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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