Type 2 diabetes is a major drain on resources

Type 2 diabetes costs Britain's NHS £2bn ($3.2bn) a year—4.7 of total NHS expenditure—and an additional £36m is spent on related social services and private health costs, claims a new report published this week. This high cost is caused largely by the treatment of complications of the disease, as they increase the overall NHS spending for an affected patient more than fivefold. The study, published in the TARDIS report, was conducted jointly by the British Diabetic Association, the King's Fund, the Economists Advisory Group, and SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals UK. …