Today, I was due to go on the BBCBreakfast show to talk about the epidemic that is #Diabetes!
But due to the wishes of people who have to remain name less (for NDA reasons) I didn’t go on.
I am more than slightly cross about this. As we could have been saving people's lives. And instead we were asked to be quiet. Which is madness.
However, I don’t have to be quiet about the facts. As released today - as if by magic. Are the facts that now show the number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK has more than doubled in the last twenty years!
Almost DOUBLED in 20 years!
The new figures show that there are now almost 3.7 million people living with a diagnosis of the condition in the UK, an increase of 1.9 million since 1998.
The data also shows that the number of people diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes has increased by almost 100,000 since last year – from 3,590,501 to 3,689,509.
Almost nine in ten people diagnosed with diabetes have Type 2.
And it is estimated that there are nearly 1 million people currently living with the condition who don’t know they have it because they haven’t been diagnosed. I could have counted myself in this around October last year.
Which is why I started www.type2diabetesfree.com. As my Type2Diabetes was only found by accident. So shockingly when you count this “undiagnosed population”, the total number of people living with diabetes reaches 4.6 million.
This is in 2018! Not in 2030. But right now!
Type 1 and Type 2.
While Type 1 diabetes isn’t currently preventable, three in five cases of Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed by making healthier choices, by helping people understand their own risk of developing the condition − and how to reduce it – and by securing early diagnosis for those known to be at high risk.
There are an estimated 12.3 million people at increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in the UK, and obesity is the leading cause in the majority of preventable cases. As Type2Diabetes CAN be reversed by diet and exercise.
This is what we HAVE to be doing. We have to teach people they can help themselves and reduce the risk. And actually reverse Type2Diabetes. They can be Type2DiabetesFree!
So how serious is Diabetes?
Chris Askew, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said:
“Diabetes is the fastest growing health crisis of our time; and the fact that diagnoses have doubled in just twenty years should give all of us serious pause for thought.”
“Both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are serious conditions that can lead to devastating complications such as amputation, blindness, kidney disease, stroke and heart disease if people don’t receive a timely diagnosis and begin receiving the right care.
But what about the government?
“We want the Government to recognise the seriousness of the growing diabetes crisis, take action to help those at increased risk, and help us turn the tables on this devastating condition.”
But are they doing anything? With diabetes costing the NHS tens of billons of pounds a year I hope so. As that money isn’t the governments. It’s ours. And the lives that are lost are likely to be ours too.
But what about us?
What can we do?
The first thing we can do is read the evidence. Not listen to friends and families. Listen to the people who has researched this for decades. As the evidence is out there.
Thanks to www.diabetes.org.uk/diabetes-statistics for the stats above.
And the second thing is your CAN SIGN THIS PETITION. To change the way that Type2Diabetes is treated in this country and save the poor NHS billions of pounds.
Let’s all do something to STOP Type2Diabetes!
In more detail.
Where do the stats come from? Just in case you are that type of person who wants to know even more…
- The 3.7m diagnosed figure is based on the Quality and Outcomes Framework 2016-17 for England, Northern Ireland and Wales and the Scottish Diabetes Survey 2016 for Scotland.
- The total number of people living with diabetes comes from the resident population dataset of the PHE Prevalence Model and APHO Prevalence Models for Scotland and Wales with Diabetes UK, estimates based on the Scottish APHO Prevalence Model and QOF/SDS for Northern Ireland.
- The undiagnosed figure for England is estimated using the registered population dataset from PHE Prevalence Model and Quality and Outcomes Framework while for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland we use the APHO Prevalence Models and QOF/SDS.
- 1.8 million figure from using UK population data from 1998 and applying the prevalence reported in: Masso Gonzalez, E.L., Johansson, S., Wallander, M.A. & Garcia Rodriguez, L.A. (2009). Trends in the prevalence and incidence of diabetes in the UK: 1996–2005. J Epidemiol Community Health. 0, 1-5.