Diabetes is a chronic and progressive disease, which has an impact upon almost every aspect of life. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in people of working age in the UK. It affects infants, children, young people and adults of all ages, and is becoming more common. There are an estimated 2.35 million people with diabetes in England. This is predicted to grow to more than 2.5 million by 2010 - 9% of which will be due to an increase in obesity.
Life expectancy is reduced by at least fifteen years for someone with Type 1 diabetes. In Type 2 diabetes, which is preventable in two thirds of people who have it, life expectancy is reduced by up to 10 years. It is estimated that around 90% of people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes.
Incidence and prevalence of diabetes is greater in areas of higher deprivations with mortality rates from diabetes higher in people from lower socio-economic groups. People from minority ethnic communities have up to a six times higher than average risk of developing diabetes.
The Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory provides national diabetes health intelligence.
For more information on how the NHS is tackling diabetes, go to:
