A record number of people in the UK are living with Type 2 diabetes, including over 129,000 people in north east London.
While Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented, Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable.
Sadly many people will either develop diabetes that could have been avoided, or experience potentially preventable complications because of diabetes, simply because they don’t know enough about their condition and how to manage it.
Diabetes is a leading cause of preventable sight loss and feet and lower limb loss, and is a major contributor to kidney failure, heart attack, and stroke. As well as the human cost, Type 2 diabetes treatment accounts for around 10% of the annual NHS budget.
Available support
The good news is if you’re at risk of Type 2 diabetes there are lots of small changes you can make to prevent diabetes from developing in the first place. The first thing to do is find out if you are at risk and you can find out more about the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme below.
If you have Type 2 diabetes there are local programmes available to help you manage it and in some cases put it into remission. Please see our webpages and links for more information.
- The NHS Digital Weight Management Programme
- The Low-Calorie Diet programme
- Low-Carb Diet for Type 2 diabetes
You can find more information on diabetes and how it can affect you, preventing diabetes, and living with diabetes on the Diabetes UK website.
