Diabetes warning: Type 2 ‘increases your risk of 57 diseases including killer cancers’
PEOPLE with diabetes develop serious illnesses more often and on average five years earlier, a UK study found.
Type 2 diabetes raises the risk of cancers and heart and kidney diseases and brings them on sooner.
More than four million Brits have the condition and now face extra health risks in middle age.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, research director at Diabetes UK, said: “The complications of diabetes can be serious and life threatening.
“This study illustrates in alarming detail the unacceptable prevalence of poor health in middle-aged people with type 2 diabetes.”
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body loses the ability to process sugar, mainly as a result of weight gain and poor lifestyle.
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More than four million Brits are affected by the condition, which costs the NHS around £10 billion annually to treat.
It can often be prevented or reversed by eating healthy and exercising.
The study, led by Cambridge University and revealed at the Diabetes UK conference, used data from three million over-30s in the UK.
Type 2 diabetics were at a higher risk of developing 57 out of 116 serious health conditions in middle age.
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The risk of kidney disease was five times higher while liver cancer was four times more likely than average.
And sufferers developed eye problems around eight years early and heart diseases six years earlier than other people of the same age.
Study author Dr Luanluan Sun added: “Preventing and delaying type 2 diabetes is essential to reduce the likelihood of poor health in middle age.”
NHS clinical director for diabetes and obesity, Professor Jonathan Valabhji, said: “This study is a stark reminder of the wider implications of Type 2 diabetes and obesity for individuals, and for the NHS.
“The health service is playing its part, with around half a million people already offered support through the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, and new data out this week has shown the programme can reduce your chances of developing Type 2 diabetes by more than a third.
“You can easily check your risk through the Diabetes UK ‘Know Your Risk’ tool and come forward for support, so the NHS can help you to prevent the condition developing in the first place.”
HEALTH CHECK
It comes after we told how overweight Brits' risk of developing type 2 diabetes plummeted by a third after completing free NHS fat-fighting courses.
Around half a million overweight adults have taken part in the slimming scheme since it was launched in 2016.
With the average successful participant shedding half a stone [3.3kg], experts now estimate it has prevented 18,000 fresh cases of type 2 diabetes.
Manchester University analysis reveals there was a seven per cent drop in the number of new diagnoses of the disease in England between 2018 and 2019.
Diabetics have to pay particular attention to what they consume as they need to keep their glucose levels at a normal range.
In type 2, cells in the body become resistant to insulin, so a greater amount is needed to keep blood glucose levels within a normal range.
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The NHS said that very high blood sugar levels can cause life-threatening complications such as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which can lead to a diabetic coma.
With diet so high on a diabetic's priority list, one expert revealed the five food diabetics should avoid - or at the very least, moderate in consumption.
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