Stroke in diabetes up 57 per cent

The number of incidences of stroke for people with diabetes has risen by 57 per cent in 3 years.
The figures appear in a new analysis from Diabetes UK. The charity carried out an audit of 1.9 million people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and compared figures from 2009 to 2010 with figures from 2006 to 2007. Over 13,000 of those in the audit were recorded as having a stroke in 2009 to 2010.
Kidney failure was another complication of diabetes that rose sharply in the same three year period. 7,000 people suffered kidney failure in 2009 to 2010, a figure 31 per cent higher than 3 years earlier.
Diabetes UK highlight the fact that, according to their 2011 survey of diabetes health checks, 7 per cent of people did not recall having their blood pressure checked, which could indicate susceptibility to stroke. Meanwhile, close to a quarter of people were not aware they had their kidney functioning checked by the NHS.
Barbara Young said: “It is shocking that rates of strokes and kidney failure in people with diabetes are now at record levels and yet thousands of people are still not getting the health checks that can help prevent them.