Will enough be done to stop the rapid increase in cases of diabetes?
The British Heart Foundation has predicted the number of people suffering heart attacks and strokes as a result of having diabetes will rise 29% by 2035.
This would mean 9,000 more heart attacks and 11,000 more strokes a year. The analysis forecasts nearly 39,000 heart attacks due to diabetes and 50,000 strokes in 2035.
While 4m people live with diabetes in England today the foundation expects this to rise to more than 5m in the next 20 years.
People suffering from diabetes are two to four times as likely to suffer from heart attack or stroke.
Worsening lifestyles and growing obesity rates will cause the increase in type 2 diabetes, shows the research, with only 10% of diabetes being type 1.
The increase will put ‘unprecedented burden on the NHS’ said the foundation. By 2035 the annual cost of treating people with diabetes will be £16.9bn, up from £8.9bn in 2012, it predicted.
There will also be more cases of angina, also linked to diabetes.
The foundation called for more research into the links between diabetes and heart and circulatory diseases and new treatments to help those living with multiple conditions.
It also called for action on obesity, poor diet and other lifestyle factors, which it attributed to ‘spiralling’ rates of diabetes.
Further information
British Heart Foundation: Growing diabetes epidemic to trigger ‘sharp rise’ in heart attacks and strokes by 2035