Junk food and booze under fire as diabetes deaths soar

THE number of people dying in the Lothians from diabetes is rising sharply, prompting fresh warnings about the effects of junk food and alcohol.

In the last three months 28 people have died as a direct result of the illness, almost double the number who died in the same period last year.

Diabetes charities have said it is still hugely under-reported on death certificates and the illness cannot be properly addressed until its true impact is officially measured.

Health chiefs in Edinburgh said they were doing all they could to help people avoid diabetes, with a series of public health initiatives.

There are around 16,000 people in the Capital who are known to have type one or type two diabetes, around three per cent of the population.

That number will rise as rates of obesity and alcoholism - intrinsically linked with diabetes - also increase.

Smoking, while improving, is also a problem, while experts said many regarded diabetes to be a "soft" condition that would not prove to be fatal.

Alan McGinley, policy and public affairs manager for Diabetes Scotland, said a bill currently going through the Scottish Parliament to encourage doctors to include diabetes on death certificates more readily should help the cause.

"The trend is upward and we have to work hard to slow that down and stop it," he said.

"There is a movement to get it marked down more. I think it's often seen in the background in deaths in cases of heart disease but rarely included.

"It is very often the trigger for a range of these illnesses."

Mr McGinley said if it was more formally recognised as a cause of death, it would help lift it up the health agenda, securing more funding for research and general public health awareness.

A recent study in Tayside looked at the death certificates of nearly 2000 people with type two diabetes. It found the illness was mentioned in fewer than half of the deaths.

Mr McGinley added: "If managed correctly people can live happily with diabetes, but if not managed well it can be very serious."

The Evening News reported earlier this month how the Lothians has a higher proportion of obese primary one children than anywhere else in Scotland. Above this, thousands of people every year are hospitalised through alcohol abuse.

Dr Alison McCallum, director of public health for NHS Lothian said: "We are continually improving the way we work with patients to enable people with diabetes to manage their weight, stop smoking and become more active, which can all help control the condition and reduce the risk of complications."