Over 4,000 people in Scotland died due to diabetes in a single year, according to official statistics. Politicians in Scotland pointed out that the 2008 statistics are a small proportion of the total number of deaths contributed to by diabetes .
The figures showed that diabetes was the underlying cause of 730 Scottish deaths during 2008. However, the total number of deaths that diabetes had a role in exceeded 4,000. Further figures indicate how many people with diabetes entered and left hospital.
Experts made it clear that education is the key to improving Scotland’s diabetes situation. Diabetes is thought to be an under-recorded influence on both hospital discharges and deaths. Liberal Democrat Health Spokesman Ross Finnie made it clear that people with diabetes needed help managing their condition, rather than simply being treated when they needed acute care.
The majority of the cases studied were type 2 diabetes, linked with bad diets, low levels of physical activity and increasing levels of obesity .

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