Diabetes twice as common among poor, study finds

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Those living in poorer areas in Edinburgh are as much as twice as likely to contract diabetes than those from wealthier areas, according to a study conducted by academics from the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

According to the study, 4.2 per cent of those living in the most deprived areas of the Lothians have diabetes compared to 2.4 per cent in more affluent areas. Surprisingly, the Edinburgh-area also has a worse debetes rate than deprived areas of Glasgow, where 3.2 per cent are sufferers.

Speaking to The Journal, Dr Sarah Wild, senior lecturer in epidemiology and public health at Edinburgh University, said: "The key message of the paper is that risk factors for heart disease among people with diabetes that can be treated with tablets such as blood pressure and high cholesterol are at similar levels regardless of deprivation, showing that health services appear to be equitable, but lifestyle risk factors such as smoking and obesity are more common in deprived than affluent populations and are much more difficult to address."

Type-2 diabetes, the form of diabetes that tends to develop in adulthood and may not require insulin treatment, is the most common form of diabetes and accounts for 85-90% of all cases of diabetes in the UK. The largest contributory factor to the disease is obesity, and patterns of diabetes generally correlate with areas where the population is overweight or have poor diet.

“This is the major concern," said Dr Wild. "Fantastic improvements have been made in heart disease but that is now starting to level off, or even increase, because of higher diabetes prevalence.

"If children are starting to develop diabetes – it used to affect people during middle age – they will be living with it for longer, and will have more time to develop problems such as heart disease, kidney failure and blindness.

"So it is a concern that we are seeing more and more people with diabetes."

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