Type 2 diabetes: One in ten UK adults 'at high risk' of developing condition

Across England more than one in 10 adults has high blood sugar levels

Five million people in England are at a high risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to new official figures.

Across the country more than one in 10 adults has high blood sugar levels – indicating a significantly heightened chance of developing the condition, Public Health England figures show.

Only last week, new figures revealed that the number of people already living with some form of diabetes in the UK have soared 60 per cent in the past decade, to 3.3m.

NHS leaders fear that unhealthy lifestyles and high obesity rates could lead to even more people developing type 2 diabetes, which represents about 90 per cent of all cases. Management of all forms of diabetes costs the NHS an estimated £8.8bn a year.

People who have a raised blood sugar level, but fall short of a diabetes diagnosis – otherwise known as non-diabetic hyperglycaemia – can nevertheless be at high risk of developing the condition. Through analysis of Health Survey for England data, PHE have now identified that more than one in 10 of the population fall within this range.

For the first time, data on diabetes susceptibility are available for local areas, revealing that that the percentage of the population at high risk ranges from 8.5 per cent in Brighton, the best-performing area, to 14 per cent in Harrow, where the most people are at risk.

Higher rates are found in areas with large ethnic minority or elderly populations – two populations already known to be at increased risk.

Left unchecked, diabetes can lead to serious complications, including heart disease and stroke, eye problems and damage to the kidneys. Damage to the nerves in the foot mean that nicks and cuts go unnoticed, which can combine with poor circulation to create ulcers. In severe cases, these ulcers can become infected, requiring a foot amputation. Diabetes leads to 22,000 early deaths every year, PHE said.

In a bid to control the soaring costs of managing the condition, the NHS is to embark on a major new prevention programme, which will target people identified by an NHS Health Check, or through a routine blood test, as having a high risk.

The programme will support people to lose weight, stay active and maintain a healthy diet. Public Health England said that evidence showed such supportive programmes could reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 26 per cent among high risk groups.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued new guidelines today on helping children and adults manage the conditions, with a particular focus on preventing diabetes-related amputations, amid evidence that up to 70 per cent of people die within five years of a diabetic foot ulcer and amputation.

Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of NICE, said that the standard of diabetes care varied across the NHS.

Professor John Valabhji, NHS England’s national clinical director for diabetes and obesity said: “There are too many people on the cusp of developing type 2 diabetes and we can change that. The growing body of evidence makes us confident that our NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme will reduce the numbers of those at risk going on to develop the debilitating disease.”