Diabetes fear for 250,000

AN estimated 250,000 people aged 40 to 70 have undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes.

Screening all middleaged people could identify cases two years sooner, cutting the risk of complications, researchers claim.

Currently only high-risk adults are offered a blood test for the disease during the NHS Health Check.

A study of 167,000 undiagnosed patients who had the blood test found 1% had the condition.

It means around 250,000 of the 25 million undiagnosed people in the UK in this age group could have the condition, the University of Exeter team said.