ONE in ten hospital admissions a day is a patient suffering from type two diabetes, as the number of those affected by the condition has DOUBLED in the last decade.
Officials are now warning the already overstretched NHS can’t cope with the 5,000 type two diabetics they see on a daily basis.
Mail Online reports that GPs have warned that some patients will need up to 200 appointments a year to deal with their conditions – that’s just under four a week.
According to the NHS: “Type 2 diabetes is a common condition that causes the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood to become too high.
“It’s caused by problems with a chemical in the body (hormone) called insulin. It’s often linked to being overweight or inactive, or having a family history of type 2 diabetes.”
Shockingly the condition – once only seen in middle aged adults – is affecting huge numbers of children.
Docs saw 940 admissions from children under 19 in 2018/19, with 45 of these being under nine.
The 1.7million admissions of type two diabetics last year cost the NHS an estimated £22million per day.
NHS bosses are now warning the new numbers could be down to Brits getting rounder.
Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS said: “Our ever-expanding waistlines are taking a growing toll on our families’ health and on our NHS, with this alarming rise in admissions demonstrating the avoidable pressure it is putting on hospitals.”
The complications caused by type two diabetes include heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and amputations – and put a huge strain on our NHS.
And new figures reveal that, although the health condition is more common in men it is women who are at far higher risk of suffering these complications as a consequence of their diabetes.
Figures show there were 4,992 hospital admissions for women aged 20 to 29 in 2018/19, compared with 1,755 for men.
However, regardless of a patients’ age or sex they’ll need to take medication and have regular check-ups with healthcare professionals for their entire lives.
Some officials, like the Obesity Health Alliance, are calling for tighter regulations on junk food.
And although type two diabetes is linked with obesity, certain groups of people – for instance those of south Asian descent – are more likely to contract the condition.
