Last updated at 13:58, Thursday, 26 April 2012

Britain is facing a diabetes “car crash”. That’s the view expressed in a new report, called Impact Diabetes which predicts almost a fifth of the country’s NHS budget will be spent treating the condition by 2035.

It has urged the Government to change its focus from treating complications to educating the public and health checks to prevent them developing the disease.

But how does Cumbria fit in to the equation?

“While recognising the ongoing challenge of the rising prevalence of diabetes, we have responded in recent years by firmly embedding a culture of structured education and support for self-management within routine diabetes care,” says Dr Robert Westgate, GP lead with Cumbria Diabetes.

The most high-profile scheme to address the issue has been the Diabetes Education and Self-Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed (Desmond) programme.

This lasts for six hours and is designed to advise people with the Type 2 variant how to manage their condition and avoid any further complications. About 2,800 suffers have attended this since 2009, with many reporting it to be helpful to them.

It is run by Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs a similar scheme for people with the Type 1 strain called Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating (Dafne).

This health board is also introducing a “care planning” approach with its GPs, designed to help diabetics self-manage their condition. “We are now building on this infrastructure to offer a prevention programme called ‘Walking Away’,” adds Dr Westgate.

“This education programme supports individuals to manage their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. More information about this programme will be available in the coming months.”

Families affected by the condition seem to believe the area handles it in the right way.

One of them, John Dawes, 46, of Penrith, praises the support given to his 11-year-old daughter, Hayley.

She was rushed to hospital just before Christmas 2010 with a life-threatening condition brought on by the Type 1 variant, which she had not previously been diagnosed with.

Her father says her condition was so severe she entered into a coma for two days.

She now has to self-manage her condition, and takes insulin daily.

Mr Dawes commented that the help of medical staff had helped his daughter get back to normality.

He believes preventative tactics could help deal with the overall problem. “I think there is a need to spot them earlier,” he says, adding that he was unsure how this would be done.

He thinks the fact Hayley knows what can happen if she does not treat her condition means she will continue to deal with it properly.

“She’s always got that in the back of her mind,” he says.

The most recent statistics, published in November last year, showed 22,923 were diagnosed with the condition in the county, compared to 21,888 the year before.

Nationally, there are 3.8 million people with diabetes across the country.

Another man whose child suffers from Type 1 diabetes is Adam Clarke of Armathwaite.

He set up an awareness campaign after his four-year-old son Django Bennett-Clarke was diagnosed.

Mr Clarke believes there needs to be greater awareness of the condition, particularly the Type 1 variant, which it is thought is triggered by a virus that affects certain genes.

“He didn’t just get it from eating too many sweets,” he comments.

Mr Clarke also believes there needs to be a focus on finding a cure.

He says this can only come through the work of charities and governments, adding that drug companies have a vested interest in the current situation.

His views are echoed by another father, Andrew Cook, 34, of Currock, Carlisle.

Two of his sons, Tyler, 9, and Rhys, 6, have Type 1 diabetes.

Mr Cook says Tyler was the first child in Carlisle to have the condition and he first became aware of it when he began wetting his bed.

After taking him to see a doctor he was immediately referred to a specialist.

Mr Cook says he had found helping Rhys easier because of his experience with his older son.

But this still brought challenges.

“You can’t tell a kid to stop running around or playing football,” he says.

Mr Cook also backed the drive to find a cure.

He has just handed over a cheque for £555 to a diabetes charity, which he raised through a fun day in his local pub.

He is now considering making this a regular event.

Baroness Barbara Young of Diabetes UK, another charity, which was involved in creating the national report says: “If this rise in diabetes is allowed to continue, as is happening at the moment, it will simply be disastrous for the NHS and wreck NHS budgets.

“I think we have a car crash coming.

“But the most shocking part of this report is the finding that almost four-fifths of NHS diabetes spending goes on treating complications that in many cases could have been prevented.

“That’s hugely wasteful – in human life, in the quality of human life, and in NHS budgets.

“We need to stop this now and make sure people get the right sort of care early on in their condition.”

Diabetes factfile...

It is a condition caused by having too much glucose in the blood.

Sufferers’ bodies do not produce enough of the hormone insulin needed to convert this sugar into fuel.

People with the Type 1 variant, which is usually diagnosed in childhood, cannot produce this hormone at all and need to take regular injections of it.

The vast majority of suffers though – more than 90 per cent – have the Type 2 kind of diabetes. They can still produce insulin but less than the amount they need.

Typically diagnosed in people over 40-years-old, it is increasingly common among children and adolescents. This is thought to be caused by lifestyle choices and rising obesity levels.

The most recently published figures, released in November last year, reveal Cumbria had a total of 22,923 diagnosed in the previous 12 month, compared to 21,888 cases.

The Impact Diabetes report says 80 per cent of the NHS’ £9.8 billion budget for the condition goes on treating complications relating to it.

The report says this would be better spent on prevention tactics such as education and health checks.

By 2035, the report estimates, the NHS will have to spend £16.8 billion on diabetes treatment, 17 per cent of it’s budget.

First published at 11:29, Thursday, 26 April 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk