THINK IT’S NOT SERIOUS? YOU WISH!

PEOPLE think it’s just type 1 diabetes that’s serious because you need insulin injections, but it’s wrong to think type 2 is nothing to worry about, says Simon O’Neill of Diabetes UK.

‘The average reduction in life expectancy from type 2 diabetes has gone down from ten years to six, but losing six years of your life is still a lot if you are diagnosed with type 2 at 65.’

Adults with diabetes are at high risk for heart disease or stroke. Some with type 2 diabetes will also end up having an amputation, usually due to neuropathy or nerve damage – every year in England alone there are 12,000 lower leg amputations through diabetes.

‘Patients lose sensation and don’t notice when they damage their limbs. Because diabetes can affect circulation, tissue repair takes longer,’ explains dietitian Douglas Twenefour.

Another complication is blindness, due to diabetic retinopathy, when blood vessels at the back of the eye begin to bulge and leak blood.

Diabetics are 20 times more likely to develop retinopathy than the rest of the population, but symptoms may not show until the condition is advanced.

number of glucose molecules stuck to the red blood cells, which reveals how much sugar you have carried in your blood over the two to three month lifespan of the red blood cell. Doctors then average that out.

‘The greater the number of glucose molecules sticking to red blood cells, the higher the risk of developing type 2 diabetes,’ says Professor Davies.

‘The advantage is that you don’t need to fast for eight hours before having the test or wait around in the surgery for two hours after you eat sugar, which is the length of time it takes to metabolise sugars in the blood.’

CAN I GET TYPE 1 DIABETES?

TYPE 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder that is normally present f rom childhood and occurs when the body cannot produce its own insulin.

Pre-diabetes cannot lead to type 1, but can lead to type 2, which is linked to lifestyle and being overweight.

CAN CUTTING SUGAR HELP?

‘PEOPLE who take in too many calories, in whatever form, put themselves at risk of pre- diabetes,’ s ays Mr Twenefour.

‘If you are drinking lots of sweet fizzy drinks and fruit juice, and you cut that out, it is going to help, but not specifically because they are comprised of sugar.

‘The key thing is that you lose weight, whether you cut out sugar, protein or fat.’

You can also reverse prediabetes by eating a healthy, balanced diet, increasing your intake of fibre and doing more exercise.

According to Professor Davies, even walking around a little more can make a big difference.

‘If people increase their daily step count by 2,000 steps, in two to three years they can halve their risk of developing diabetes.’