The truth behind type 2 diabetes

On 2nd October 2016, the BBC showed a documentary on their program PANORAMA.  This particular episode struck a deep chord with me as it was about Type 2 Diabetes, my father suffers from this disease and I know the struggle he has faced for years.

As a nutritionist I see type 2 diabetes as having a fairly simple solution - lose weight and you can control or even cure the progression of the disease.  However, for those suffering from type 2 diabetes don't see it as simply as I do, and this is what made watching this documentary so painful.  The impotence, the frustration and hopelessness of the patients, their families and the medical professionals is devastating.

The amount of people currently struggling with type 2 diabetes in the UK are costing the NHS 10.3 BILLION GBP per year - that's 10% of the NHS' budget spent on caring for people with type 2 diabetes.  This is because 4 MILLION people are living with this condition and 500.000 don't even know it.

So why does it cost so much?

Many people think that type 2 diabetes is basically harmless.  However, its effects are far reaching, and the truth is that this disease is a KILLER.  Type 2 diabetes can lead to heart failure, blindness, kidney disease (need for dialysis) and foot and leg amputations.

Type 2 diabetes isn't just the medication you need to control it, it's the cost both human and economic of dealing with other diseases caused by the type 2.  For example, one of the cases featured in the documentary shows an elderly man having his leg amputated due to this disease.  He had to have two operations and rehabilitation.  That's 18,000 GBP for the two ops and 20,000 GBP more for rehabilitation, not to mention the cost to him at losing a leg.  Amputations due to the body's inability to fight infection from ulcers because of the diabetes are, unfortunately, very common.  Not a welcome thought for anyone.  And this comes at an economic cost to the NHS that is threatening its survival.

If you read this blog you will know that type 2 diabetes is a lifestyle acquired disease which means there is too much glucose in the blood due, generally, to poor diet and therefore the body's mechanism for turning glucose into energy doesn't work properly.  Nine out of ten patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are overweight.

Professor Tim Barratt, from Birmingham Children's Hospital says;

"Obesity and diabetes will have a tremendous burden on our national health service.  It would be much cheaper to change lifestyles now and prevent complications than trying to pay for it with the NHS."

But type 2 isn't just for middle aged people who haven't looked after themselves.  Until the year 2000 not a single case of type 2 diabetes had been diagnosed in a child in the UK.  Now more than 500 CHILDREN have developed the disease because of poor diet and obesity.

In the UK one fifth of children are overweight or obese by the time they start PRIMARY school, and more than one in three are overweight or obese by the time they leave.

Professor Barratt says;

"Type 2 diabetes in children may be a different disease to type 2 diabetes in adults.

"So adults who get this at the age of 50 or whatever may not necessarily get these other complications.  The children we are seeing with type 2 seem to have got a more aggressive progress.  And they're getting these complications earlier than you'd expect."

The NHS is now focused on prevention.  Doctors claim that although bariatric surgery costs about 5,000 GBP, if it prevents sufferers from developing more serious complications then it is money well spent.  However, the NHS is only performing about 6,000 bariatric surgeries per year.  If it were to meet the European average, it would be closer to 50,000, enough to make a difference.

The government has also imposed a "sugar tax" on soft drinks and they have also published a childhood obesity strategy.  But many in the medical profession believe that tougher actions are needed if a difference is to be made.

But, at the end of the day, the general public has to WANT to look after themselves, and also those suffering already from type 2 diabetes have to make a huge effort with help from the medical professionals to change their lives.  Admitting you have a problem and that you need help is half the battle won.

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com