The cost of diabetes to the National Health Service stands at approximately £1 million per hour, and is increasing rapidly, a new report indicates. As many as 2.75 million people in the UK now have diabetes, the latest figures show.
The report, by Diabetes UK, claims that as many as two million of this total has type 2 diabetes, a condition strongly linked to obesity . The total is forecast to climb to four million by 2025.
Diabetes accounts for approximately a tenth of NHS budget each year, a total exceeding £9 billion. The complications of diabetes are numerous and deadly, and include amputation, heart disease, kidney failure and blindness .
The report highlights the fact that eight out of ten people with diabetes die of heart disease and stroke, reportedly commenting: "Most of these cases will be Type 2 diabetes, attributable to an ageing population and rapidly rising numbers of overweight and obese people. It is frightening to think that an increasingly unhealthy lifestyle has been a major factor in Type 2 diabetes, once seen only in the over-40s, being diagnosed in a growing number of younger people and even children ."
Cost of diabetes hits GBP1 million per hour
Wed, 08 Oct 2008
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