By Nadia Stone
More people are being diagnosed with diabetes in Devon as figures for obesity continue to grow.
The latest figures from the Devon Primary Care Trust for diabetes show 27,657 sufferers in the county, compared to 25,667 the previous year. This is an increase of nearly eight per cent in a year.
Currently there are 3,805 people in Exeter diagnosed with diabetes.
Devon Primary Care Trust said national figures for diabetes showed the total of 2.35m current sufferers was set to rise to more than 2.5m by 2010, and that part of the rise was related to the increasing numbers of obese people.
The trust also acknowledges that the predicted growth in child obesity was likely to lead to an increase in the numbers of type 2 diabetes.
Ninety per cent of all diabetes sufferers have type 2 diabetes, which is caused when too little insulin in the body is produced or cells do not react properly to the insulin. Type 1 diabetes is when no insulin is produced at all.
Steve Brown, assistant director of public health at Devon Primary Care Trust, said: “Obese young children are more likely to be obese young adults and what that brings is a whole raft of potential issues, such as diabetes, which affects diet and drugs.”
As the Echo has previously reported, more than a quarter of 10 and 11-year-olds in Devon are either obese or overweight, while a fifth of four and five-year-olds are also either overweight or obese.
Nationally about five per cent of total NHS spending is on people with diabetes, which suggests costs could rocket as the population gets fatter.
The charity Diabetes UK has argued that there are already 3,300 admissions to A&E departments every year for children suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis.
This condition, which can occur if Type 1 diabetes is undiagnosed, can lead to a coma if not treated quickly.
Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: “The number of children being rushed to A&E with such a life-threatening complication is shocking. In previous research by Diabetes UK, specialist diabetes staff reported that cuts in diabetes services resulted in an increase in emergency hospital admissions.”
The Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital says it has three paediatric diabetic nurses who looked after about 200 youngsters with diabetes.
One of the nurses, Suzie Hammersley, said: “We provide a seven- day-a-week service where our young patients and their families can get in touch with us for advice and support.
“Without a doubt this service has prevented patients from having to be admitted to the hospital emergency department.
(c) 2008 Express & Echo (Exeter UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
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