Hope for a million 'secret' diabetics

Up to a million Britons are at risk of blindness and heart disease because they have diabetes without knowing it.

Up to a million Britons are at risk of blindness and heart disease because they have diabetes without knowing it.

Doctors are preparing to treat hundreds of thousands of new patients thanks to a simple blood test which will show the condition to be far more widespread than previously thought.

The test will identify the hidden army who realise they are affected only when they suffer permanent damage to their health. Unless it is identified and treated at an early stage, diabetes can lead to fatal medical problems.

There are about 1.2 million known diabetics in the UK, but doctors say that another million are likely to be suffering in ignorance from a form of the disorder associated with increasing age. Most will be suffering from "Type 2" diabetes, which can often be controlled by diet and exercise, although patients may also need to administer insulin.

The new test, recommended by the World Health Organisation and backed by the Department of Health, uses a lower threshold of glucose in the blood to define a diabetic. Doctors hope that using the test earlier and more frequently in at-risk groups will reveal the disease and prevent fatal or crippling complications.

Diabetes is the single biggest cause of blindness among adults of working age in the UK. Half of all lower-limb amputations, other than those caused by accidents, are due to diabetes.

The number of diabetics has risen steadily since the war, an increase blamed on bad diet, obesity, genetic factors and lack of exercise. Complications arising from diabetes cost the NHS £4bn a year - almost 10 per cent of its entire budget.

Dr Felix Burden, a consultant diabetologist at Leicester Royal Infirmary, said hundreds of thousands of people were diagnosed too late. "At least half of people diagnosed diabetic already had damage done. People need to be diagnosed eight to 10 years earlier so that diabetes can be controlled."

The British Diabetic Association, a charity that helps people with diabetes and sponsors research into treatments, will be sponsoring the publicity campaign in June.

"People will tell you that they have a 'touch of diabetes' or 'mild diabetes' but there is no such thing. People are very ignorant about diabetes and that is something we are trying to do something about," a spokesman said.

While Dr Burden was optimistic about the new tests, he said current treatment and care of diabetes were patchy in many areas and basic advice on diet or exercise was lacking.

"There is a school of thought that says we might be a bit rash to screen more people because treatment is not adequate at the moment," he said.

Doctors will aim screening at the over-40s, people who are overweight, have a family history of the disease, and Asian and Afro-Caribbean groups. Dr Burden said that nearly a third of Asian men in Leicester were diagnosed diabetic by the age of 40.

"There are genetic factors but diet and most importantly obesity are key factors. If you can get your exercise rate up and change your diet you can control diabetes.

"In China, where they have an even bigger diabetes problem, people are receiving medals and rewards if they do take more exercise on their way to work. Of course, that is a totalitarian state, but we really do need to think about exercise."