Survey Highlights Fears About Diabetes

Fri, 14 Aug 2009
As type 2 diabetes rises significantly, with 125,000 plus new cases being diagnosed each year, recent survey results highlight that those affected are realising the wider implications of this condition and fear its related complications.

As more people recognise that the condition has a strong correlation to lifestyle factors like a poor diet and lack of exercise, it is not just diabetics who are affected by the complications, it is also their loved ones .

Diabetes UK conducted a survey of 2,500 plus people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes,sponsored by Merck Sharp and Dohme Limited.

The results highlight that:

* 80 per cent of participants are very concerned or fairly concerned about getting a heart attack, a stroke or nerve damage .

* Approximately 50% stated that they were very concerned or fairly concerned about experiencing hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose), with around a third of participants already having experienced it.

* Nearly a quarter had experienced sexual dysfunction .

* Around 10 per cent claimed to have suffered eye damage.

* 8 per cent of respondents have cardiovascular disease .

The results demonstrate daily challenges facing those who live with type 2 diabetes. Should it not be managed effectively, this condition has wider reaching, longer-term implications.

Diabetics not only have to control blood glucose levels which can possibly reduce the risk of complications, however, they also face the challenge of ensuring their glucose levels don't drop too low, causing hypoglycaemia.

This can mean that patients become unwell, feel disorientated and dizzy. However, often many such incidents can go unreported to GPs due to fear of the impact it can have on factors like life insurance, their driving licence or their job .

The survey revealed how such issues impact on the daily lives of loved ones with almost a quarter of respondents (men and women) citing sexual dysfunction as a problem.

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