Diabetes a big health risk in the North

Diabetes is one of the biggest health challenges facing the North, a report published today claimed.

’Diabetes. Beware the silent assassin’ carries the stark warning “The death certificate will say heart attack. It was really diabetes.”

The report, produced by leading health charity Diabetes UK revealed approximately 10% of general NHS spending goes on diabetes and its complications.

For Northern Ireland that equates to around £400m (€514m) a year – more than £1m (€1.28m) a day.

The report also revealed that one in ten people in hospital have diabetes and 60% of inpatients with diabetes have been admitted as emergencies.

There are some 57,000 people in the North who have been diagnosed with the condition – but the real total is feared to be much higher, with thousands walking around unaware they have diabetes.

Iain Foster, Diabetes UK Northern Ireland director, said: “Diabetes leads to heart disease, stroke, amputations, kidney failure and blindness and causes more deaths than breast and prostate cancer combined.

“Type 2 diabetes can remain undetected for ten years or more before someone is diagnosed.

“It really is a silent assassin – more than 500,000 people have the condition but do not even know it and by the time they are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes 50 per cent of people are found to have started developing complications.”

Diabetes UK is launching the ’Silent Assassin’ campaign to highlight that diabetes is a serious condition and improve awareness of its devastating complications.

The campaign encourages people at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes to make urgent changes in their lifestyle.

The charity said it wants to ensure that people with Type 1 diabetes or with Type 2 diabetes have access to appropriate care, support and education to help them manage their condition effectively and avoid developing the life-shattering complications of diabetes.

Mr Foster said: “In many cases the number of deaths caused by diabetes is still under-reported: the death certificate will say heart attack but it was really diabetes. We want to prevent millions of people from facing a future of ill-health and reduced life-expectancy.

“There is still a worrying lack of awareness about diabetes, its risk factors and the simple steps people can take to reduce their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and manage the condition.”

He said the charity believed the hard-hitting messages of the Silent Assassin campaign would help improve the health of the nation by raising awareness of the seriousness of the condition.