During Type 2 diabetes prevention week (10-16 May), health professionals in Sefton are raising awareness of how living a healthier lifestyle can prevent the risk of developing the condition.
There are 12.3 million people in the UK at increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes but there are steps you can take to reduce your risk.
You can prevent Type 2 diabetes by eating a healthy, balanced diet, maintaining a healthy weight and keeping physically active.
People living with Type 2 diabetes face a significantly higher risk of dying with COVID-19 and the condition can also lead to heart disease and stroke, as well as vision loss and blindness.
Dr Nigel Taylor, diabetes lead for NHS South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and NHS Southport and Formby CCG, said: “People with Type 2 diabetes don’t produce enough insulin or the insulin they produce doesn’t work properly. Around 90 per cent of the 3.8 million people diagnosed with diabetes are living with Type 2.
“There are almost 1 million more people living with Type 2 diabetes, who don’t know they have it because they haven’t yet been diagnosed.
“While other factors like age and ethnicity affect a person’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, being overweight is the most significant risk factor that can be changed.”
There are some groups at higher risk of Type 2 diabetes: men, people of South Asian or Black ethnicity, people who are overweight and people with a family history of Type 2 diabetes
Find out your risk of Type 2 diabetes by using the Diabetes UK Know Your Risk Score at riskscore.diabetes.org.uk or by searching ‘Know Your Risk’.
If your score comes back as ‘at risk’, sign up to your free local Healthier You programme via self-referral.
Or, if you think you or a family member may be at risk, ask at your GP practice about your free local Healthier You programme.
For patients living with diabetes, the My Diabetes My Way interactive website gives support for people who have diabetes and their family and friends. Once registered you can have access to view your diabetes-related health records and tailored advice as well as information created by NHS experts in diabetes. You can ask your GP practice about registering for access to this support service.