A young man measures his blood sugar.
Many young people with type two diabetes in England will be offered a tailored program to help them manage their disease and reduce the risk of complications.
The $18 million scheme will offer extra support to 140,000 people aged 18 to 39 years old — a group who typically engage less with healthcare services for things like annual diabetes reviews.
Young people with type two diabetes will get more intensive one-to-one guidance from healthcare teams, as well as opportunities to proactively try new medications when indicated.
The program will run in parallel with a world-first national scheme that hopes to put as many people with type two diabetes into remission as possible. Some patients will be eligible for both programs.
The remission scheme — nicknamed “soups and shakes” — gives people who have recently been diagnosed with type two diabetes low calorie meals to help them lose weight quickly.
Participants replace their entire diet with these products for 12 weeks, before gradually introducing other food with support from specialists.
A pilot of 4,500 people found people lost an average of nearly 25 pounds with the 12-month scheme, which can be delivered digitally.
“Soups and shakes” is inspired by two studies investigating the link between weight loss type two diabetes remission. In one, just under half of 149 trial participants went into remission. Some of these individuals have stayed in remission for five years.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is characterised by high blood sugar.
In type two diabetes, this is caused by a resistance to insulin: a vital hormone that moves sugar from the blood into other cells of the body.
When we eat, the carbohydrate in our food is broken down and absorbed into the blood, which carries it around the body. If we become resistant to insulin, some of this sugar may get left behind, causing high blood sugar.
In the long term, high blood sugar levels damage the body’s organs, putting those with diabetes at a higher risk of serious health conditions like heart disease, stroke and blindness.
In the short term, very high blood sugar levels can lead to a life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. But this is more common in people with type 1 diabetes, who do not produce enough insulin of their own.
Having a family history of type two diabetes, being physically inactive or being overweight put you at a higher risk of developing the disease. It’s also more common for people in certain racial and ethnic groups, including Black people and Asian people.
Managing the diabetes is complicated and may involve taking medication and injecting insulin. In addition to nutrition, exercise and medication, all manner of variables can affect blood sugar levels, from hot temperatures to stress and alcohol intake.
For many people, diabetes remains a daily battle that can take a toll on both physical and mental health. As the charity Diabetes UK says, “For more than 4.9 million people in the UK with diabetes, there’s no day off.”
And the disease is not just a life-changing diagnosis for individual patients. It’s also a major cost to country’s public health system. Previous research has shown around 10% of the country’s National Health Service spending goes on the direct cost of diabetes and its complications.
Developed by the NHS and charity Diabetes UK, the ‘soups and shakes’ program was rolled out across 21 areas of the country earlier this year. It’s expected to be available across the entire country by March 2024.
Targeting early-onset diabetes
The new scheme announced on Monday will provide an extra layer of support for younger people with type two diabetes. Although the disease is linked to age, it is becoming increasingly common among younger people.
Early onset type two diabetes can be particulary agressive. It also disproportionately impacts deprived communities, as well as people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
It’s hoped that tailored support will help younger people manage their diabetes better and reduce their risk of complications.
Diabetes UK chief executive Chris Askew OBE said in a statement the scheme was “a vitally important step towards improving care for people who develop type 2 diabetes at an early age.”
He added: “We know that access to vital routine diabetes care is lower in the 18-40 age group — putting those affected at a higher risk of potentially devastating complications.
“This programme is a welcome and much-needed opportunity to address these existing inequalities in type 2 diabetes care.”