UK public underestimates severity of diabetes, charity claims

03 Jul 2018 --- A survey released by Diabetes UK highlights how only a small percentage of the UK public comprehend how serious diabetes can be and its potential to lead to devastating health complications, the charity note. The findings are released amid further statistics demonstrating the increasing prevalence of diabetes in the UK.

The survey spoke to 1,000 people with and without a link to diabetes. Only two percent of people said stroke was a complication of diabetes while four percent flagged kidney damage and six percent said heart disease. Despite amputation and sight loss also being prevalent diabetes complications, only one in four people noted this in the survey. Furthermore, the survey found that no one spontaneously knew diabetes could cause problems in pregnancy, only two percent knew diabetes could lead to a shorter lifespan and only four percent understood it could lead to early death.

These figures fall significantly short of data supplied by Diabetes UK:

• There are 169 amputations each week because of diabetes, which means someone loses a leg, foot or toe every hour.
• People with diabetes are 32 percent more likely to die prematurely than people who don't have the condition.
• More than 1,600 people have their sight severely affected by their diabetes every year in the UK. This means around 30 people a week develop sight loss because of their diabetes.
• 12.3 million people in UK are at increased risk of Type 2 diabetes but the public are unaware of the devastating health complications.

Dan Howarth, Head of Care at Diabetes UK tellls NutritionInsight, “Part of the reason is that the public have a perception of diabetes that it’s just ‘something to get on with’ and is relatively easy to manage. The reality is that living with diabetes is hard work, and requires constant vigilance. For people with diabetes, some of the lack of awareness about complications may be about not wanting to confront the reality of living with the condition, and others may be simply because they feel well at the time. Whatever the reason, it’s important the public – both with and without diabetes – understand how serious this condition is, and how devastating the complications can be.”

Diabetes UK asserts that the disease is a significant health crisis, and it is on the rise. Their analysis shows that the number of people being diagnosed with diabetes has more than doubled in the last 20 years. There are now 3.7 million people in the UK living with a diabetes diagnosis (90 percent have Type 2 diabetes) and around 12.3 million people are at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes now affects more people than any other serious health condition in the UK – more than dementia and cancer combined.

Previous Diabetes UK research noted that diabetes sufferers often faced difficulty when trying to speak about their condition publicly.

In order to increase knowledg, Howarth suggests: “Education is key here, both for those with diabetes, and those without. To support this, Diabetes UK has a wealth of materials available to help everyone understand more about the condition, how it is managed, and what steps can be taken to prevent or delay the serious complications diabetes can cause. Our Learning Zone, for example, provides tailored, individualized educational tools to help people manage their condition as well as possible.”

Diabetes UK is launching a new campaign this week called Be in the know, which calls for more people to be aware of diabetes-related complications.

By Laxmi Haigh