UK diabetes cases 'up 65 per cent'

The number of UK people with diabetes has increased by more than 65 per cent since 2005.

This is according to new research from the British Heart Foundation, which shows close to 3.5 million individuals in the country now have the condition.

A partnership has been formed between the organisation and Diabetes UK and Tesco. Together, they aim to reduce the number of people developing diabetes by helping people to live a healthier lifestyle, as well as researching new treatments.

The British Heart Foundation has revealed it will be investing an additional £3 million into diabetes research, taking the total amount of funding it has put into this area up to more than £27 million.

Chris Askew, chief executive of Diabetes UK, commented: "The number of people with diabetes is rising at an alarming rate.

"Diabetes remains one of the biggest health challenges of our time. We must protect the health of the nation by taking urgent steps to get to grips with it or we will continue to see more and more people dying before their time."

Public Health England statistics highlighted by the Telegraph show that Harrow in London has the highest number of people at risk of developing diabetes. Some 14 per cent of over-16s in the area have non-diabetic hyperglycemia, a condition which places them at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Harrow is followed by Dorset (13.4 per cent), Wolverhampton (13.2 per cent), Torbay (13.1 per cent), East Sussex (12.9 per cent) and Brent (12.9 per cent). 

People are least at risk in Brighton and Hove (8.5 per cent), Islington (8.6 per cent), Hammersmith and Fulham (8.7 per cent), Tower Hamlets (8.8 per cent) and Wandsworth (nine per cent).

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