Half a million people with undiagnosed diabetes

More than 500,000 people in the UK have type-2 diabetes but do not yet know it, a charity has claimed.

Diabetes UK places the number of people who have been diagnosed with type-2 diabetes at over 2.3 million.

However, many more are thought to be unaware they have the disease and the charity is now urging anyone with two or more risk factors to be tested.

Risk factors include being overweight or having a large waist, having a family history of diabetes, and being aged over 40 or over 25 for people of black or south Asian origin.

Douglas Smallwood, the charity's chief executive, commented: 'It is shocking that more than half a million people are going about their daily lives unaware they have a condition that puts them at greater risk of devastating complications.'

Complications linked to type-2 diabetes include heart disease, kidney damage and blindness and Mr Smallwood added that the sooner people are diagnosed, the sooner they can start treating the condition.

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