1 in 10 people have diabetes in large areas of London

Brent and Ealing are have been shown to have the highest rates of diabetes in within England.
The London borough of Brent has been recorded as having a rate of diabetes at 10.5%, meaning more than 1 in 10 have the condition. Closest behind was Ealing which recorded 9.9% of the population with diabetes. Outside of London, Wolverhampton recorded the highest rate of 9.6%. The largest proportion of the rise is from new cases of type 2 diabetes, which accounts for around 90% of cases of diabetes in the UK.
The high rates in certain parts of the country may be attributable to differences in metabolism of different ethnic backgrounds. For example, people of South Asian descent have a higher susceptibility to developing insulin resistance, the key characteristic of type 2 diabetes, and type 2 diabetes has tendency to develop at lower age and lower BMI levels than in people of European descent.
Therefore areas of the UK with larger Asian populations can be expected to have higher rates. Statistics also show that economic prosperity can also play a part with less prosperous areas recording higher diabetes rates. Indeed, the figures show that the City of London (the central borough of London) has the lowest rate of diabetes in England of 5.5%.
The figures have been published by charity Diabetes UK. Chief executive of the charity, Baroness Barbara Young states: “…the only way we will finally bring the increase under control is by getting much better at preventing cases of Type 2”.
The charity recommends that people make simple changes to their lifestyle and learn to recognise the symptoms of type 2 diabetes so that it can be treated early and effectively should the condition develop.