Diabetes - The Facts

Current information from Diabetes UK indicates that there are 2.8 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK as well as an additional 850,000 estimated to have type 2 diabetes but are unaware they have the condition. Local figures suggest that there are around 15,000 diagnosed cases of diabetes in Wolverhampton.

Diabetes mellitus is a serious condition, and occurs when the amount of glucose in the blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. There are two main types of diabetes;

Type 1 diabetes develops if the body cannot produce any insulin. Insulin is a hormone which helps the glucose to enter the cells where it is used as fuel by the body. Type 1 diabetes usually appears before the age of 40 and is the least common of the two main types accounting for around 10 per cent of diagnosed cases.

Type 2 diabetes the most common form of diabetes (90%), develops when the body can still make some insulin, but not enough, or when the insulin that is produced does not work properly (known as insulin resistance). This type of diabetes is strongly linked to being overweight and usually appears in people over the age of 40, although in South Asian and African-Caribbean people, this can appear as young as 25. However, type 2 diabetes is on the increase among adults and children, with some children as young as seven being diagnosed.

The Risk Factors - Be Aware

There are a number of risk factors associated with the devlopment of type 2 diabetes some of these are modifiable however some are not. These risk factors include;

• Ethnicity - people of Black and Asian ethnicity are five times more likely to get type 2 diabetes
• Age - being over 40 or over 25 if you are Black or Asian
• Having a close relative with type 2 diabetes (parent or sibling)
• Being overweight (use BMI scale to calculate)
• If your waist circumference is over 31.5 inches or over for women; 35 inches or over for Asian men and 37 inches or over for White and Black men
• Having had gestational diabetes (during pregnancy)

For more information on risk factors associated with type 2 diabetes visit Diabetes UK;

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Introduction-to-diabetes/Causes_and_Risk_Factors/

and NHS Choices;

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Diabetes/Pages/Avoiddiabetes.aspx