There are thought to be 2.5 million diagnosed diabetics in the UK and in addition 1 million people who are yet to be diagnosed. And the concern is that there's a 10 year delay between the onset of the disease and it being picked up really by chance. The problem is that there are no real specific symptoms for Type II diabetics. Often they go into hospital for another problem, someone notices their blood sugar is high and that's when they're tested. And the devastating problem with that is that 1/3 of patients at the time of their diagnosis with diabetes already have an irreversible complication. So it's really important that we recognize patients who are at risk and those patients are screened early and those patients themselves are educated on the importance of getting themselves tested.

Any patient who falls into a high risk group, for example there's a family history of diabetes, any patient within certain ethnic groups such as Asians and Afro-Caribbeans, a patient who is overweight, any woman who has had a history of gestational diabetes for example, all of these patients, the physician should have a low index of suspicion. And the patients themselves, particularly when they fall into certain brackets such as being over the age of 50, they themselves should be ensuring that they're being tested. It's a very simple test. It's non-invasive it's not expensive. I think it's a travesty if we're missing 1 million diabetics every year.

Posted: 09/05/09