PRESCRIPTIONS SOAR BY 70%

PRESCRIPTIONS for diabetes drugs have soared by 70 per cent in a decade with almost 55million written last year, official figures show.

This works out at just over 150,000 every day, costing the Health Service more than £1billion a year.

Experts warned the escalating cost – up from up from £593 million a decade ago – is being driven by the spiralling obesity crisis.

The sharp rise in cases means diabetes accounted for an astonishing 11 per cent of the cost of all NHS prescriptions issued by GPs last year.

Experts have warned it is now Britain’s biggest health threat, contributing to complications such as heart attacks, sight loss and amputations. One in every 15 adults now has the condition, which can lead to a stroke and raise the risk of cancer.

Low-calorie diets are being trialled by NHS England, with officials hoping it will reduce the sums spent on prescriptions.

Douglas Twenefour, of Diabetes UK, said: ‘The amount spent on prescriptions is just a small part of the £10 billiob to £1 billion the NHS spends annually on diabetes.’

The disease occurs when blood sugar levels rise to risky levels. Diabetes diagnoses have doubled from 1.9 million in 2008 to million today. A further one million people are thought to be unaware they have the condition, with 12.3 million also at risk.