NHS Diabetes Prevention Week Runs During April

Type 2 diabetes is on the increase and Derbyshire residents are being reminded to be aware of the risks during the NHS Diabetes Prevention Week.

NHS Diabetes Prevention Week runs from 16 to 22 April 2018 and there will be plenty of advice for those wanting to make preventative lifestyle changes.

Currently, nearly 60,000 people in Derbyshire have Type 2 diabetes, which is largely preventable through lifestyle changes, and more than 70,000 are thought to be at high risk of developing it.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Communities Councillor Carol Hart said:

“Diabetes can cause serious long-term health problems such as cardiovascular disease, blindness, kidney failure and lower limb amputation.

“That’s why it’s so important to help people stop the condition from developing.”

Patients at high risk of Type 2 diabetes in the county are benefiting from a new programme to help them avoid developing the condition.

The NHS Healthier You: Derby and Derbyshire Diabetes Prevention Programme aims to help patients change their lifestyles.

The programme includes education on healthy eating and lifestyle changes as well as bespoke exercise sessions, all of which have been proven to reduce the risk of developing the disease.

Find out more about the Derby and Derbyshire Healthier You programme, and how you can take part.

Five of the main risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes are:

• age – being over the age of 40 (over 25 for South Asian people)
• genetics – having a close relative with the condition (parent, brother or sister)
• weight – being overweight or obese
• ethnicity – being of south Asian, Chinese, African-Caribbean or black African origin
• pregnant women who have gestational diabetes are at an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes later in life

Some of the main symptoms of diabetes include:

• urinating more often than usual, particularly at night
• feeling very thirsty
• feeling very tired
• unexplained weight loss
• cuts or wounds that heal slowly
• blurred vision (caused by the lens of the eye becoming dry)