Nearly 24,000 people a year are dying early because of "preventable" complications of diabetes, according to a major study published today.
People with type 1 diabetes – caused by an absence of insulin and often developed in childhood – are the most vulnerable, researchers reported.
The deaths are "largely preventable", according to the National Diabetes Report, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
It found a 131% increased death rate for people with type 1 diabetes and a 32% increased death rate for those with type 2 disease – which is often associated with unhealthy lifestyles.
The dates from 2013 and the researchers say the deaths followed years of exposure to high glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol.
A study of hospital admissions found massive rates of amputation among diabetes patients compared with the general population.
People with diabetes are also twice as likely as others to be admitted to hospital with angina, myocardial infarction – heart attack – and heart failure.
Dr Bob Young, from the National Diabetes Audit, said: “The findings show that high complication rates for patients with diabetes lead to increased hospital admissions and also increase mortality.
“If we can prevent these complications from occurring then this would have a huge impact on the number of hospital admissions across the NHS.
“Whilst it is pleasing to see that complication rates are slowly decreasing year on year, there is still much work to be done. In particular, areas with the highest complication rates should examine their practice to see if more can be done to improve outcomes for patients with diabetes.”
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