Type 2 diabetes is a condition where the body does not make enough of a hormone called insulin, or the insulin it makes does not function properly, resulting in too much sugar in the blood. This is known as insulin resistance, and over time it can lead to a range of very serious health complications.
According to the latest figures from Diabetes UK, there are 4.4 million people in the UK living with diabetes, and an estimated further 1.2 million people living with diabetes who are yet to be diagnosed. About 90 per cent of these people have type 2 diabetes, as opposed to type 1 diabetes.
The research also reveals that there has been a 39 per cent increase in cases of diabetes among the under-40s, which have risen by more than 47,000 since 2016/17, to 168,000. This compares to a rise of 25 per cent for people over the age of 40. The report suggests that poor diets high in sugar and rising obesity levels are to blame.
The release of the report coincides with Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week (20-26 May). It aims to raise awareness of the causes of diabetes, and the steps that can be taken to prevent it.
Colette Marshall, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said: “Diagnoses of type 2 diabetes in people under 40 are rising to alarming levels. It’s a damning indictment of the barriers that many of us face to living a healthy life, where good food is affordable, and exercise isn’t a luxury.”
She added: “There is a generational opportunity to stop this crisis in its tracks and we are calling on all political parties to seize it. We need bold action to reverse the rising trend in type 2 diabetes, overturn our broken food environment and give every child and young person the best possible chance to grow up in good health.”
Diabetes prevalence is higher in men than women, at 9.6 per cent versus 7.6 per cent of the general population. The reason for the higher prevalence of diabetes in men is thought to be linked to the androgen hormone ‘testosterone’, which men have in much higher proportions than women, and plays a key role in male sexual function.
Men with low testosterone levels are more susceptible to type 2 diabetes, which is thought to be because this affects the way that the body stores fat. The symptoms of diabetes include constant thirst, increased need to urinate, fatigue, dizziness, and weight loss.
Unmanaged diabetes can cause serious health complications, including heart disease and kidney disease, and nerve damage that in severe cases can result in amputations. Furthermore, men with diabetes are three times more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction (ED).
This is the inability to get or keep an erection, and in men with diabetes it can be caused by nerve damage, limited blood flow, damaged blood vessels, low testosterone, or obesity. Men with ED may be offered treatment such as sildenafil (the trade name for Viagra), which helps to increase the blood flow to the penis.
It’s important that men do not ignore ED out of a sense of shame or embarrassment, because it can be the sign of several serious health problems. However, most men will experience ED from time to time, especially if they are tired, stressed, in a low mood, or have drunk too much alcohol.
Some new research has shed more light on the reasons why more men than women develop type 2 diabetes. Medical News Today reports that Researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden have carried out a study into the sex difference between people with type 2 diabetes.
The results show that abdominal fat in obese men with type 2 diabetes has higher insulin resistance and different levels of gene expression than women.
First author Daniel Andersson, PhD, MD, consultant cardiologist and assistant professor at Karolinska Institutet, told Medical News Today: “Our research group has been interested in studying different aspects of insulin resistance in adipose tissue for several years.”
“It is well known that there are sex differences between men and women and the risk of getting type 2 diabetes. However, the underlying mechanisms for the sex difference in risk and the impact of local insulin resistance in adipose tissue is not fully understood.”
The research could lead to further developments in the sex-specific understanding and treatment of type 2 diabetes.
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