The number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK has increased by more than 145,000 in the last year. New data from GP practices show that there are now more than 2.6 million people with diabetes in the UK and more than 5.2 million registered as obese. This means that one in ten people are being treated for obesity and one in 20 for diabetes.
In addition to the 2.6 million people diagnosed with diabetes, there are still up to half a million people who have Type 2 diabetes in the UK and do not know it.
“These latest figures are extremely worrying," said Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK. “Diabetes is a serious condition that causes heart disease, stroke, amputations, kidney failure and blindness, and more deaths than breast and prostate cancer combined. If we don’t stop the rising tides of obesity and diabetes, millions will face a future of ill-health and will put an ever-growing strain on NHS resources.”
