Britain is facing a huge rise in cases of diabetes, with five million people at high risk of developing the condition.
One in ten people over 16 now has pre-diabetes — blood sugar levels that mean they are likely to develop type 2 diabetes within the decade — Public Health England has said.
The new calculations suggest that 250,000 more people are at risk than was previously believed.
Baroness Young of Old Scone, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: “Having high blood glucose levels significantly increases your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which is a serious health condition that affects 2.9 million people in England, and can lead to devastating complications such as blindness, amputations and stroke, and ultimately early death.”
Research shows that, if they do not change their lifestyle, a tenth of those with pre-diabetes each year will develop type 2 diabetes, which causes 22,000 early deaths and costs the NHS £8.8 billion a year.
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The English figures show that levels of prediabetes range from 8.5 per cent of people in Brighton and Hove to 14 per cent in Harrow.
They said that higher rates tended to be in areas with large ethnic minority populations, or older people — groups traditionally at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The NHS is launching a new diabetes prevention programme next year aiming to reduce new cases of type 2 diabetes by 26 per cent.
The programme will target people at risk of developing the disease for at least nine months, helping them to lose weight, increase activity levels and eat more healthily. Everyone identified as having pre-diabetes will be offered a place on the programme. Diabetes risk is assessed at the NHS health check offered to all people aged 40 to 74, with those at high risk tested for blood sugar levels.
Duncan Selbie, head of Public Health England, said: “We know how to lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes: lose weight, exercise and eat healthily, but it’s hard to do it alone.”
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Professor Jonathan Valabhji, national clinical director for diabetes and obesity in NHS England, said: “There are too many people on the cusp of developing type 2 diabetes and we can change that.”
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has published new NHS guidelines on managing diabetes in adults and children. Its recommendations include same-day referrals of children and young people with suspected type 1 diabetes to a specialist team to confirm diagnosis and provide immediate care.
It also called for better foot care for all people with diabetes to cut the risk of amputation. It said that both had high mortality rates, with up to 70 per cent dying within five years of an amputation and 50 per cent dying within five years of a diabetic foot ulcer.