Insulin Dependent Diabetes Trust call for greater awareness

The Insulin Dependent Diabetes Trust has called for greater awareness about diabetes, to enable patients to better understand their condition and how to manage it. The co-chairman of the IDDT, Jenny Hirst, said that current awareness of the condition remains patchy.
Highlighting a ‘postcode lottery’ of diabetes awareness, Hirst explained a diversity of knowledge across the country. She reportedly commented: “It is improving, but there is a lot of confusion about the difference between the two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. There has been information about the increase in amputations, which is a complication of diabetes . We find that very worrying, people aren’t getting access to foot care early enough.”
Type 2 diabetes is the more common of the two diabetes types, affecting some 85 per cent of diabetes patients in the UK. The most up-to-date statistics put the number of people with diabetes in the UK above 2.6 million.