Diabetes Clinic on the South Bank

Dr Chris hosts a walk-in clinic to test for diabetes On 20th September 2006 I hosted a walk-in clinic on London's South Bank for ITV's This Morning.

If you saw the show and want more information, then you've come to the right place.

It is estimated that around one million Britons have undiagnosed diabetes in the UK and that figure is rising - the so-called "missing million"

So what is diabetes
When you eat food, the sugar levels increase as it's absorbed into the blood stream but your body puts out a hormone called insulin to bring the sugar levels down.

As you get older and if you have been eating a lot of carbohydrates and sugars your body can't provide enough insulin to bring the sugar down. With obesity on the increase diabetes cases are rising, and convenience and fast foods in our western diets are not helping.

Who is most at risk?
Research has shown that a large waist could mean you are up to twelve times more likely to develop diabetes. For men, (except South Asian men), they are at risk of Type 2 diabetes if their waist is 37 inches or over, (for South Asian men, it's 35 inches or over) and for all women it's 31.5 inches or over.

Testing
As I reported last week in the eye clinic, an eye test can often diagnose certain forms of diabetes. More information here : Eye tests can be life savers by Dr Chris Steele.

Blood tests can also determine if you have diabetes.

For further information, see my article on diabetes : Information on diabetes from thefamilygp.com

This article was published on Wed 20 September 2006

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