About Diabetes Prevention Week
Diabetes Prevention Week is a campaign from NHS England, Diabetes UK and Public Health England. It aims to:
- Raise awareness of the Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme
- Raise awareness of the causes of Type 2 diabetes
- Raise awareness of the complications associated with Type 2 diabetes
- Raise awareness of at risk groups
More than 200,000 people are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes every year – and that means the risk of serious health complications and early death.
Modern life can make it hard to be healthy but for many people Type 2 diabetes can be prevented by making small lifestyle changes. Diabetes is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in people of working age. It is also responsible for most cases of kidney failure and lower limb amputation (other than accidents), and people with diabetes are up to five times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than those without diabetes.
However, Type 2 diabetes can be prevented by:
- managing your weight,
- eating healthily and
- being more active.
What can you do?:
- Go to https://riskscore.diabetes.org.uk/start to get an estimate of your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Finding out your risk of Type 2 diabetes only takes a few minutes. It could be the most important thing you do today.
- Get a free NHS Health Check to assess your risk of diabetes and other conditions
- Ask at your GP practice about the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme or find out more about the Devon diabetes prevention programme by visiting https://www.westbank.org.uk/diabetes-support