North East UK is sitting on diabetes bomb, ready to explode in 2016

The North East region of the UK is sitting on a diabetes time bomb, which is ready to explode in 2016, shows a new data compilation.

The data, compiled by Diabetes UK, suggests that the UK now has 4.05 million people suffering from diabetes. It indicates that an estimated 250,000 people in the North East are a high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Experts warn that it is a time bomb waiting to explode, reports the Chronicle.

The latest data compilation shows that while the number of adults officially diagnosed in the UK during 2015 was 3.5 million, another 119,965 people were found to be diabetic in the previous year. This marks an increase of 65 percent over the past decade, reports Science Times.

The latest data further shows that the number of people suffering (undiagnosed) with Type 2 diabetes in the country is 549,000.

"With four million people in the UK now living with diabetes, the need to tackle this serious health condition has never been so stark or so urgent," says Chris Askew, chief executive of Diabetes UK, reports the Independent.

Askew suggests more proactive measures by the government to tackle the problem. "Basic measures such as making healthy food cheaper and more accessible, introducing clearer food labelling and making it easier for people to build physical activity into their daily lives would have a profound influence,” he says.

"Sadly, too many people suffer from Type 2 diabetes and its serious health consequences,” says Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England. "We must help prevent those at high risk of developing it from doing so,” he says.

The data further shows that most people are unaware of the role of an unhealthy lifestyle in their falling health. For instance, in a poll conducted by the World Cancer Research Fund, 41 percent of the correspondents were found to be unaware of the fact that physical inactivity increases the risk of cancer.