Residents are being encouraged to check their risk via the free Diabetes UK Know Your Risk tool.
It asks seven questions which will determine risk and what people should do next. If a moderate to high risk is identified, the tool will advise people to contact their GP and book a test to check blood sugar levels.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Adults and Wellbeing, said: "Type 2 diabetes is serious and can lead to devastating complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness or amputation. But, if managed properly, people with Type 2 diabetes can live long, healthy lives.
“The majority of cases of type 2 diabetes can be stopped or delayed by eating a healthy diet, taking regular physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight, and so this Diabetes Week we want people in Wolverhampton to come forward and find out their risk of type 2 diabetes, so we support them in making the right choices to improve their health.
“If you have a moderate to high risk, you should book a blood sugar test to see if you could develop type 2 diabetes – called pre-diabetes or nondiabetic hyperglycaemia. If it finds that you are at risk, your GP can refer to the local Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme – an evidence-based lifestyle change programme which helps people reduce their risk by managing their weight, eating more healthily and being more physically active.”
The free NHS Health Check programme, available to adults aged between 40 and 74 every five years, also includes a diabetes risk assessment and blood test.
Common diabetes symptoms include needing to urinate a lot, especially at night, being particularly thirsty, feeling more tired than usual, losing weight without trying to, experiencing genital itching or thrush, or cuts and wounds that take longer to heal, blurred eyesight and increased hunger.
Having some diabetes symptoms doesn’t mean you definitely have the condition, but people should contact their GP, just to make sure.
Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week runs until Sunday (28 May) and is organised by Diabetes UK. For more information, please visit Diabetes UK.
