Dramatic drop in new Type 2 diabetes cases

Charity welcomes ‘hope for the future’ but says obesity epidemic still puts people at greater risk of the condition

THE number of diagnoses of type 2 diabetes has fallen in an ‘encouraging’ sign, the charity Diabetes UK has said.

Although one person is still being diagnosed every three minutes, the equivalent of 552 cases per day, it is 27 cases fewer each day than in 2016 when there were 579 every 24 hours, nearly one person every two minutes.

202,665 people were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in England and Wales in 2017, the most recent year for which statistics are available, down from 211,425 in 2016.

Diabetes UK said it did not want to speculate on what the cause of the drop might be, but said it was still concerned about the large numbers of people developing the condition, which is fuelled by Britain’s obesity crisis.

Type 2 diabetes is a largely preventable condition, which can lead to sight loss, stroke, kidney failure and loss of limbs. Being overweight or obese puts an individual at greater risk of developing the condition.

“One person being diagnosed every three minutes illustrates the frightening speed at which the number of people living with Type 2 diabetes is increasing,” said Chris Askew, chief executive of Diabetes UK.

“However, three in five cases of Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed by eating well, being active and achieving a healthy weight, meaning there is hope for the future. Action must also be taken to tackle the obesity epidemic, which has contributed to the rise of Type 2 diabetes.

“While we encourage everyone to eat more healthily and move more, it’s equally important that the Government tackle our obesogenic environment, and make the healthy choice the easy choice.”

The number of people living with all types of diabetes in the UK has reached 4.7 million, according to figures released by Diabetes UK in February. Three in five adults in the UK are overweight or obese, which accounts for 80 to 85 per cent of the risk of developing the condition.

The new figures were released ahead of NHS England’s Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week from April 1 to 7 to raise awareness about its Healthier You programme, a free service to help people reduce their risk of developing the condition.

NHS England currently spends 10 per cent of its annual budget on treating diabetes and its associated complications. Dr Partha Kar, associate clinical director for diabetes for NHS England, said: “These figures underline the importance of wider action on obesity prevention, and confirm the importance of the action set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.

“This includes expanding the NHS Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Programme so that 200,000 people every year can benefit, and introducing a pilot of very low-calorie diets that have been shown to put Type 2 diabetes into remission in a significant proportion of those people who already have it.”

The Diabetes UK analysis uses data from the NHS Digital National Diabetes