As the fastest growing chronic condition in Australia, more than 1.2 million Australians are living with diabetes and registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme (NDSS).

In addition, approximately 500,000 Australians do not know they have diabetes, making the overall estimate of about 1.7 million Australians actually living with the disease.

National Diabetes Week is held in the second week of July each year to raise awareness of diabetes and its prevalence in Australia.

Every day, 280 Australians develop diabetes and in the past year, 100,447 Australians have developed diabetes and registered with the NDSS.

here are three different types of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system is activated to destroy the cells in the pancreas which produce insulin.

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin and/or the insulin does not work properly.

Gestational diabetes develops during pregnancy and usually doesn’t continue after the birth of the child.

Mothers after gestational diabetes are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

By 2017, diabetes is expected to overtake heart disease as the number one burden of disease in Australia and by 2031, it is estimated that 3.3 million Australians will have developed type 2 diabetes.

More than two million Australians are already at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes and have developed atypical blood glucose levels, yet may not be aware of it.

Approximatey 90 per cent of people living with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, a condition which is strongly linked to lifestyle factors such as poor diet and a lack of regular exercise.

Factors that increase risk of type 2 diabetes include family history, cultural background, smoking and physical inactivity.

The condition has no known cure and there are serious complications common to all types of diabetes including heart attack, stroke (up to four times more likely in people with diabetes), kidney failure (three times more common in people with diabetes), amputation, depression, anxiety and loss of vision (diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in working age adults).

A healthy lifestyle can significantly reduce the risk of these life-threatening complications from taking place and early diagnosis, treatment and effective ongoing management reduces the risk of diabetes and related complications.

This year, National Diabetes Week is from July 9-15.

For more information on events near you, visit www. diabetesaustralia.com.au