UK Diabetes Cases Expected to Rise 700,000 by End of the Decade

(Newsroom America) -- New analysis by the charity Diabetes UK expects the number of people in Britain with diabetes to rise by 700,000 by the end of the decade.

This indicates 4.4 million people with the disease in the UK alone by 2020.

The majority of new cases are predominantly expected to be Type 2 diabetes. People who develop Type 2 diabetes are at an increased risk of amputation, blindness, kidney failure, stroke and ultimately early death. However, the condition can often be prevented by adopting healthier lifestyle choices such as losing weight.

Barbara Young, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said, the healthcare system is already at breaking point in terms of its ability to provide care for people with diabetes.

Ms Young said the result is that many people are developing health complications that could have been avoided, and are dying early as a result.

"Because of this, I have grave fears about the potential impact of an extra 700,000 people with diabetes, which is almost the combined population of Liverpool and Newcastle. We face the very real prospect of the rise in the number of people with the condition combining with NHS budget pressures to create a perfect storm that threatens to bankrupt the NHS.

"If this projected increase becomes reality, it would be a calamity for the healthcare system and a disaster for public health. But the Government and the NHS do not seem to have grasped the scale of the impending crisis and at the moment we seem to be sleepwalking towards it."