Around 200,000 people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes every year – putting them at risk of potentially serious health complications and early death.
Modern life can make it hard to be healthy but, for many people, type 2 diabetes can be prevented by making small lifestyle changes.
Diabetes is a leading cause of vision loss in people of working age. It is also responsible for most cases of kidney failure and lower limb amputation (other than accidents), and people with diabetes are up to five times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than those without diabetes.
However, type 2 diabetes can be prevented by:
- Managing your weight,
- Eating healthily and
- Being more active.
What is type 2 diabetes?
- Every two minutes someone finds out that they have type 2 diabetes. If current trends persist, 1 in 10 people will develop type 2 diabetes by 2035.
- Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or the insulin it does produce doesn’t work properly (insulin resistance). It can be a combination of both.
- Diabetes can cause serious long-term health problems. It’s a leading cause of vision loss in people of working age. It’s also responsible for most cases of kidney failure and lower limb amputation (other than accidents). People living with diabetes are also at least twice as likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than those without diabetes.
