Diabetes Statistics
Diabetes in the UK
The number of people with diabetes has risen sharply since 1996, the huge increase has seen a rise from 1.4 million to 2.9 million people being diagnosed with diabetes. This rise is set to continue and it is predicted that by the year 2025 five million people will have diabetes. With an ageing population and rapidly rising numbers of obese and overweight people, most of the diagnosis will be for Type 2 diabetes.
It is believed that there are about 850,000 people in the UK who have diabetes but are undiagnosed. The figures are disturbing and confirm that diabetes is one of the prime health challenges the UK faces, with more than 1 in 20 people in the UK having diabetes (diagnosed or undiagnosed), equating to an average of 4.45% in adults.
Diabetes Globally
Statistics from The International Diabetes Federation estimated diabetes worldwide to be 371 million in 2012, and they expect diabetes to have risen to 552 million by the year 2030.
In 2012, the countries with the highest numbers of people with diabetes were China, India, America, Brazil and Russia. Although diabetes is increasing in every country, it is estimated that 80% of people with diabetes live in low and middle income countries
The greatest number of people that have diabetes are between 40 to 59 years of age, with an estimated 187 million people with diabetes being undiagnosed throughout the world.
In 2012, the number of deaths caused by diabetes was 4.8 million, with diabetes being the fourth or fifth leading cause of death in most developed countries. 50% of the people who died from diabetes were under the age of 60 years old.
To stop the growing health crisis and see a decrease in the number of people dying from diabetes and its complications, there needs to be increased awareness of the risks, changes are needed in peoples’ lifestyles, and improvements to self-management of diabetes need to be made.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) in diabetes
In 2011 Diabetes UK published a report stating people with type 2 diabetes have a two-fold increased risk of a stroke within the first five years of diagnosis, and CVD accounted for 44% of fatalities in people with type 1 diabetes, and 52% in people with type 2 diabetes.
According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the major cause of death and disability in people with type 2 diabetes, with at least 65% of people with diabetes dying from CVD. Read more about Cardiovascular Disease.
Diabetic Neuropathy
Everyone who has diabetes is at risk of developing neuropathy, but it is estimated that 20 to 30 per cent of people with type 2 diabetes will be affected, people with type 1 diabetes tend to develop neuropathy after they have had diabetes for over 10 years.
Diabetic Retinopathy
'Management of diabetic retinopathy’ publication found people with diabetes are 10 to 20 times more likely to go blind than people without diabetes. A number of publications over the years show that diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in people of working age in the UK.
In 2008 ‘The English national screening program for sight threatening diabetic retinopathy’ estimated that there were 4,200 people in England who were blind due to diabetic retinopathy, and this figure increased by 1,280 each year, and that within 20 years of diagnosis nearly all people with type 1 diabetes and almost two thirds of people with type 2 diabetes have some degree of retinopathy.
Diabetic Nephropathy
Accordng to Diabetes UK nearly one in three people with type 2 diabetes will develop overt kidney disease. With Diabetes being the single most common cause of end stage renal disease, and Kidney disease accounting for 21 per cent of deaths in type 1 diabetes and 11 per cent of deaths in type 2 diabetes.
