Obesity blamed for soaring amputee cases

BRITAIN’S obesity epidemic is fuelling “devastating” numbers of amputations – almost all of which could have been prevented, experts have warned.

Official figures show the number of cases has reached an all-time high, with more than 8,500 procedures carried out last year as a result of diabetes.

Nine in ten cases of the condition are type 2, which is linked to obesity and inactivity. Official figures show that 23 amputations are carried out every day, with a 16 per cent rise in interventions between 2013 and 2016, compared with the previous three years.

Diabetes UK said the findings were “devastating” and often life-threatening – up to 80 per cent of diabetic patients die within five years of surgery. People with diabetes have an increased risk of foot ulcers, which can deteriorate quickly. The charity warned that the trend was being fuelled by soaring obesity rates, with two in three adults now overweight or obese.

Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: “Successive governments have done nothing to reduce levels of obesity in the UK and we are now seeing the tragic consequences. I am left numb with fury.”

Earlier this month the NHS recommended that every person over 40 should be offered a diabetes check.