24,000 deaths a year could be avoided

[HelenM]

This is really scary, although sure like some else mentioned the figures are probably distorted a bit. Its still very worrying though!

I think that one thing is to get the stats into perspective.
For example they dramatically say that up to 24,000 deaths could be avoided.. note the up to. Well there were 24,000 deaths recorded and over three quarters of those were in people over 65, some were in those over 85. There is no way of saying that these were all premature, indeed some people may have lived longer because they improved their lifestyle after a diabetes diagnosis.

The figures for younger people are too high, Statistics released earlier in the year also showed far too many young people with poor control, and it was only a tiny percentage receiving all the regular care procedures.
People using these forums are I suggest far more likely to have all the checks and tests they should, so problems will be discovered at an earlier stage.
People in areas of higher social deprivation also had worse outcomes and this too may reflect the higher HbA1cs and lower uptake of care (or perhaps access to care) found in such areas

 

[Abi]

I'd be interested to know more about the proportion of deaths due to chronic complications versus acute events such as DKA, severe hypos or accidents due to hypos

In some areas care is shocking and issues such as inadequate strips, lack of structured education and pumps may be a contributary factor but the issue seems to be as much about the annual or 6 monthly check- if regular screening for complications and long term control is lacking this is very disturbing. However I suspect that what is going on in the patient's life the remaining 364 days per year is far more relevent. I know some people are in denial and just " don't want to know" but I imagine chaotic social circumstances, difficculty in accessing care due to inflexible employers or problems with transport, depression, lack of support from family and peers and a myriad other factors may impinge on a person's self care. There have been recent accounts on various fora about bullying at work for example- peeople being denied reasonable breaks to monitor, medicate or eat, and people having a hard time at work because they occasionally need a few minutes to treat a minor hypo. Don;t even mention inconsiderate behaviour of others if soemone needs to inject- even of there is no needle phobia. I agree that people need to take responsibility of themselves but there are societal issues as well .If bullying at work is a problem I have heard stories of people running high levels all the time rather than risk loosing their job. And the constant incrimination by the media so that it is assumed type one and all type 2 is self inflicted, easy to control with the right lifestyle, medication etc does nothing to help.