25% UK Diabetics Missing On Life-Saving Drugs

An estimated 25 percent of Britain’s diabetics are not being prescribed the right drugs, thus placing them at greater cardiovascular risk, pharmacy researchers from the University of Sunderland reveal.

While diabetes patients (both type 1 and type 2) over the age of 40 should take the basic medicines required to ward off the risk of cardiovascular illnesses and heart attacks, the researchers surveying the medical records of diabetic patients found that every one in four were not prescribed such 'life-saving' drugs.

As poorly controlled blood glucose levels cause the arteries to fur up and narrow, the drugs, aspirins – help prevent the formation of blood clots and statins - help reduce blood cholesterol levels which otherwise put diabetic patients at increased risk of heart attacks.

To gauge the intensity of the quandary, researchers assessed medical records of 447 diabetic patients aged over 40. Noting discrepancies in their prescriptions, almost a quarter (68 patients were not prescribed aspirins and 50 not prescribed statins) were missing on essential prophylactic drugs.

"Despite their high cardiovascular risk, one in four patients with diabetes are not being treated with medicines that could prevent their death from complications of their disease," Wasim Baqir, head pharmacist for Northumbria Healthcare Trust, noted.

The details of the study will be presented at the annual British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester today.

Diabetes – a medical condition wherein the body’s blood glucose levels rise because of an under-performance by pancreasdefine to make insulindefine – the hormone responsible for breaking down sugars in the body, the disease and its associated complications are responsible for an estimated one in 17 deaths in the UK, annually.

Moreover, cardiovascular complications such as heart disease and stroke are major causes of mortality and morbidity among diabetics.

"People with diabetes are particularly at risk of cardiovascular disease," a Health Department Spokeswoman marked. "It is therefore vital that they receive the support and treatment to enable them to manage their condition and reduce the risk of complications such as heart attack and stroke."