AS MANY as 30,000 people in Ireland have diabetes without being aware of it, a study has found.
A screening programme involving more than 19,000 people has shown that in excess of 2,400 individuals have either diabetes or pre-diabetes.
When these findings are extrapolated to the estimated 1.38 million individuals in Ireland aged between 45 and 75, almost 30,000 people could have undetected type 2 diabetes and 146,000 undetected pre-diabetes.
Diabetes is a disease where a person cannot control the level of sugar in their blood. Type 1 diabetes affects children who must take insulin shots to control blood sugar. Type 2 is often called late onset, where sugar levels are controlled through tablets and diet.
Type 2 diabetes is typically caused by poor diet, being overweight or being sedentary and usually develops when one is aged over 45.
Substantial evidence suggests that type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed and people at high risk of developing diabetes easily identified.
A rise in the levels of obesity in recent years has led to a dramatic increase in the number of people developing the disease.
The prevalence of type 2 diabetes has been identified by the Institute of Public Health as one of the most serious health issues facing this country. It estimates that the number of people with the disease will reach almost 200,000 by 2015, an increase of 37 per cent from 2008.
It is estimated that in 2011 there are about 180,000 people, of all age groups, with diabetes in Ireland (type 1 and type 2 populations combined). The number of adults with diabetes worldwide has more than doubled since 1980 to 347 million.
According to the screening programme undertaken by VHI Healthcare 63 per cent of participants were either overweight or obese and 64 per cent had high blood pressure on the day of screening.
The health insurer said Ireland was facing a diabetes epidemic in the years ahead which will have a major impact on healthcare funding and delivery unless steps are taken to address the problem.
“As individuals we have a responsibility to ourselves and our families to make the simple changes to our lifestyles that will help keep us healthy and well.
“Diabetes is a disease that can have serious impacts on health and quality of life yet some small simple steps can play a huge role in prevention,” said Dr Bernadette Carr, medical director, VHI Healthcare.
The insurer said it intends to rescreen 1,300 people who were identified previously as being at high risk of developing diabetes to see if their risk has reduced. It also plans to conduct a further 5,000 screenings for the disease during the rest of 2011.
The Diabetes Federation of Ireland has welcomed the extension of the programme.
“Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90 per cent of the total Irish diabetes population, is largely preventable by following a healthy diet and increasing physical activity.
“Yet we do not even know the scale of the problem in Ireland as we do not have a national register of people with diabetes,” said the organisation’s chief executive Kieran O’Leary.
