Diabetes Awareness Week takes place between 12 and 18 June with people in Dorset being urged to find out more about the condition and seek advice if they recognise the symptoms.

Diabetes is a serious condition where your blood glucose level is too high. It can happen when your body doesn’t produce enough insulin or the insulin it produces isn’t effective. Or, when your body can’t produce any insulin at all.

The common symptoms of diabetes include:

  • Going to the toilet a lot, especially at night
  • Being really thirsty
  • Feeling more tired than usual
  • Losing weight without trying to
  • Genital itching or thrush
  • Cuts and wounds take longer to heal
  • Blurred vision

Over a long period of time, high glucose levels in your blood can seriously damage your heart, your eyes, your feet and your kidneys.

But with the right treatment and care, people can live a healthy life and there’s much less risk that someone will experience these complications.

Dr Martin Longley is a GP in Milton Abbas and Diabetes lead for NHS Dorset. He said “One in every 15 people are affected by Diabetes, which means in Dorset around 44,000 people are living with the condition.

“During Diabetes Awareness Week I am encouraging everyone in Dorset to take 10 minutes out of their day to find out more about the condition and how to reduce their risk, as more than half of cases of Type 2 Diabetes could be prevented or delayed by making simple lifestyle changes.”

Anyone would like more information should visit diabetes.org.uk.