Type 2 diabetes is a relative deficiency or insensitivity to insulin and it is a major public health issue. Among its many complications are:

• Premature death
• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) €“ 75 per cent of people with diabetes will die of CVD
• Renal failure €“ 20 per cent of people with diabetes will develop this
• Blindness €“ diabetic retinopathy is the main cause of blindness in the UK
• Amputation and other effects of neuropathy and autonomic dysfunction, such as erectile dysfunction, diarrhoea, urinary retention and postural hypotension.

Three million people in the UK have been diagnosed with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, but type 2 accounts for roughly 90 per cent of cases. It is also estimated that there are around 850,000 people in the UK who have diabetes but have not been diagnosed.