In the United Kingdom, the number of adults living with diabetes has risen over 65 percent in the last 10 years – since 2005, according to a GP data analysis conducted by the British Heart Foundation.
The data shows that nearly 3.5 million people are living with the group of metabolic diseases known as diabetes and that in the past year, the number of cases has risen by 3.5 percent.
Hundreds of thousands with type 2 diabetes–linked to unhealthy lifestyles and obesity–remain undiagnosed, The Guardian reports.
From 2004 until 2005, the data showed only 2 million people in the UK afflicted with diabetes.
Presently, the data doesn’t provide any breakdown on the number of people living with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, only Type 3.
Chris Askew, the chief executive of Diabetes UK, was quoted by The Independent as having said that the “number of people with diabetes is rising at an alarming rate and every year there are more than 20,000 people who die tragically young as a result of the condition.” He went onto note that given the scale and severity of the condition, it’s “vital that there is more research into better treatment and, ultimately, into finding a cure.”
Given the scale and the seriousness of the condition, it is vital that there is more research into better treatment and, ultimately, into finding a cure. (…) 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.
Diabetes UK, along with Tesco and The British Heart Foundation, is funding over $4.5 million worth of research into treating blood vessels damaged by diabetes.
In regards to the research, which marks World Diabetes Day, Dr. Richard Cubbon said that we’re “currently unable to reverse blood vessel damage caused by diabetes.”
We are currently unable to reverse blood vessel damage caused by diabetes. (…) We’re studying a protein which could be involved in blood vessel repair, which could lead to new drugs that help prevent the deadly heart attacks and strokes associated with diabetes.
