Diabetes in Salford Council: Prevention, Management and Awareness

Diabetes is a common health issue for the people from all over
the world. It is a serious disease and if it is left untreated then it
might lead to various life-threatening diseases that include
kidney failure, heart disease, stroke and others. Prevalence of
diabetes in Salford Council near Manchester in the UK is also
increasing at an alarming rate. In a report of UK, it has been
stated that 20000 people living in Salford are at increased risk
of developing type II diabetes and almost 12300 people are
living with it. Over half of the population of the city is recorded
as overweight (NHS Salford Clinical commissioning Group
2016).
Diabetes can cause serious health complications and it is
important to better understand the ways to bring
improvements in the prevention and treatment of diabetes.
However, it might sound surprising, but it is the fact that a
proper research on the people dealing with it is the most
essential tool in the means of caring of such disease. Various
reasons might be there contributing to the occurrence of
diabetes and genetics as well as lifestyle, these two are most
important of them. Diabetes can be hereditary but as per the
opinion of the researchers, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact
genes which are carrying the risk. Along with genes, choice of
lifestyle also plays a major role. Lack of exercise, unhealthy
meal planning choices, overweight or obesity and many others
are the greatest reasons behind such disease. However, the
combination of genetic susceptibility and unhealthy living
habits leads to insulin resistance and forms type II diabetes
among the human beings. Age is another factor and as per the

researches, type II diabetes usually appears over the age of 40
and also at a very early childhood. But, recently, the younger
people are also suffering from this disease as due to unhealthy
lifestyle they are dealing with issues regarding overweight and
others (Public Health England n.d).
Managing diabetes requires attention and most of all,
awareness. In order to manage blood sugar level, planning of
regular intake of meal, controlling other eating habits including
smoking and drinking pattern, and daily exercise can be the
most effective tool (Chaplin 2017). In addition, maintaining a
healthy body weight is the primary requirement to manage
diabetes. In this purpose, knowledge to prevent and manage
diabetes is highly required which can be gained only if
awareness among the people is increased. It is the prime
responsibility of government to play the role in increasing
health awareness among the people. In this regard, health
chiefs across the Salford city have joined the forces in the
campaigns against diabetes.
People of the Salford council are being offered a simple and
quick health quiz and also they are offered a quick finger pin
prick check to confirm their blood sugar level. In the campaigns
right help, support and advice is provided to the people to
prevent their likelihood of suffering from the disease. A report
from diabetes UK revealed that UK is facing a huge increase in
the number of people suffering from diabetes. Since 1996, the
number has increased from 1.4 million to 2.9 million and it is
also estimated that if the situation is not controlled then it will
reach up to 5 million by the year of 2025. Currently, 10 percent

of the whole NHS budget is being spent only on diabetes (Heald
et al. 2018). The joint venture of Salford Royal NHS foundation,
Salford Clinical Commissioning Group, and Salford City Council
in the management, cure and prevention of diabetes and other
health issues related to it is focused to decrease the number of
premature deaths occurred by it. Also, there are a range of
services in Salford that can help its people in reducing the risk
of diabetes by changing their unhealthy lifestyle. Salford
Community Leisure offers 8-week personalised exercise
programs and the activities include swimming, supervised gym
sessions, exercise and motivational classes and others that can
help in preventing type II diabetes among the people of it.
Another new service, which Salford CCG is trialling, is,
introducing a user-friendly website which is backed up by a
telephone support service to guide patients to have a regular
health check up and keeping records as well as increasing
awareness against the complications of diabetes (Badrick et al.
2017).
Diabetes is one of the serious health challenges and in order to
curb this growing health crisis, it is important to increase
awareness to acquire a healthy living habits and regular
exercise program. Appropriate education and care can be
helpful in improving the quality of life in this regard.