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Pharmacy helps prevent diabetes

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Pharmacy helps prevent diabetes

Community pharmacy-based risk assessments for type 2 diabetes can help identify significant numbers of people at risk of developing the disease, a new study has shown. Researchers at the University of East Anglia analysed the outcomes of over 3,500 risk assessments, which were carried out at Boots pharmacies between January and September 2013. Almost a third (29 per cent) of the risk assessments showed that the patient had a moderate or high chance of developing diabetes in the next 10 years, while 60 per cent of the risk assessments were conducted on overweight or obese individuals.

Through the service, which was developed by Diabetes UK, the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, pharmacists personalised advice on how patients could reduce their risk for diabetes, and referred those at high risk to their GP.

Peter Bainbridge, Boots UK director of pharmacy, said that the research “demonstrates the overall value community pharmacy can offer, providing convenient access to healthcare support and services – in turn reducing the strain on other parts of the NHS”. 

The importance of preventing this disease is more paramount given the cost of treating diabetes. The Prescribing for Diabetes report from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) found that prescriptions to manage diabetes in primary care cost the NHS £2.2 million on average every day in 2013-14, an increase of just over five per cent from 2012-13 and a 56.3 per cent increase from 2005-06.

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