From the Plymouth Herald
ALMOST 17,100 people in Plymouth will have diabetes by 2020, a national charity has warned.
Over the next eight years the number of people with the condition is expected to rise by 2,200 in the city, according to a report by Diabetes UK.
Almost 400,000 people in the West Country will have diabetes, as it is expected to rise by 64,000 across the region.
Currently some 335,000 people in the South West are diagnosed with diabetes, and that figure is projected to reach 399,000 by the end of the decade.
In Devon the number of diabetics is expected to increase by 10,800 to 63,300, including an increase of 2,200 to 17,100 in Plymouth.
In Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly numbers are expected to reach 45,900, an increase of 7,700.
Diabetes UK has warned that the cost of providing healthcare for the extra 700,000 people would put great financial pressure on the NHS, which is already spending 10 per cent of its entire budget on treating the condition.
Graham Cooper, Diabetes UK South West regional manager, said: "The healthcare system is already at breaking point in terms of its ability to provide care for people with diabetes and the result is that many people are developing health complications that could have been avoided and are dying early as a result."
1 comment:
Of course if if conventional advice encouraged everyone to go low carb the millions (billions?) of pounds paid in tax by the drugs companies would drop dramatically. Add this to the impact on wheat prices and you begin to see why it's better for the economy to have people suffering from diabetes. It's the same as the smoking argument - the tax revenue from tobacco sales is far greater than the cost of treating people for smoking related ailments.
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