Uncontrolled diabetes and insulin

[Rabdos]

Hello

Do you know how many people (percent) cannot control their type 2 diabetes with any of the available medications?

Also, how many people are on insulin for diabetes type 2?

Thanks!

 

[EllieM]

Hello

Do you know how many people (percent) cannot control their type 2 diabetes with any of the available medications?

Also, how many people are on insulin for diabetes type 2?

Thanks!

Not sure of the answer to the first question, as different people have different definitions of "control". As for the second,

Been doing some ferocious googling and found this
How many people inject insulin? UK estimates from 1991 to 2010 - PubMed (nih.gov)
which states that in 2010
4.34 people per 1000 were T2s on insulin, and 2.37 were T1.
Then
• Insulin: number items prescribed for diabetes England 2005-2021 | Statista
gives the numbers of insulin units prescribed as going up by about 25% from 2010 to now.
So, assuming that increase is mostly due to more insulin using T2s, you're now talking about 5.4 people per 1000 are T2s on insulin, so maybe 400,000? 1 in 10 T2s? (ish, so many assumptions in these calculations that this is a very rough ball park figure, could easily be out by a factor of 2).

And last time I googled I found a statement that there were 900,000 T2s on insulin but no basis for the calculation.
How many of you T2 are on Insulin? | Diabetes UK

On the other hand, if the original 4.34 and 2.37 is right, you're talking nearly twice as many T2s on insulin as T1s on insulin. So 8% of diabetic population are T1, 90% T2, so 8*4.34/2.37 out of 100 diabetics (90 T2s) and we get 16% of T2s are on insulin...so 1 in 6 not 1 in 10 and probably around 700,000 (assuming 4 million T2s and UK population around 70 million). And that proportion is from 2010 so may well have gone up in 2022.

I'd actually believe the 700,00 slightly more than the 400,000 just because we don't know whether more or less insulin is wasted between now and 2010, which is a factor that could skew the figures drastically.

 

[EllieM]

gives the numbers of insulin units prescribed as going up by about 25% from 2010 to now.
So, assuming that increase is mostly due to more insulin using T2s, you're now talking about 5.4 people per 1000 are T2s on insulin, so maybe 400,000? 1 in 10 T2s? (ish, so many assumptions in these calculations that this is a very rough ball park figure, could easily be out by a factor of 2).

OK, mistake in calculation here, as I actually assumed that the ratio of T2s on insulin and T1s remained the same. If we assume all the extras are T2 then the number of T2s on insulin is 6 per thousand, or roughly 420,000. Not much different. I think the uncertainty in the amount of insulin wasted probably outweighs the other factors.