Britain’s diabetics are the worst in Europe at controlling their blood glucose levels and fail to understand the impact on their health, a survey has found.

Millions of people suffer from type 2 diabetes and the numbers are rising fast, according to the International Diabetes Federation. The long-term consequences if the disease is not controlled properly include blindness, nerve damage and kidney failure.

The federation surveyed the experience of people with diabetes in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. It sought to establish whether sufferers were aware of the risks of the disease and how well they were controlling it through diet or drugs.

It found widespread ignorance about the disease and what targets for blood glucose patients should be achieving. Many diabetics also had a false sense of security about how well they were doing.

Control of diabetes is measured by the number of haemoglobin molecules to which glucose is bound, called an HbA1c score. In healthy people this is about 3.5 to 5.5 per cent but in those with diabetes it is much higher.

In Britain the blood glucose target for good control of the disease is set at 7.5 per cent, the highest in Europe. Yet Britain has the lowest proportion of sufferers achieving this level, the report says.

Tony O’Sullivan, the federation’s European president, said: “The definition of poor diabetes control varies from country to country. In the UK it is high, at 7.5 per cent, which is probably to do with economics. The higher it is, the greater the risk of eye and kidney disease, and the UK target is cutting it a little fine.”

The survey found that in all five countries those surveyed thought that their HbA1c levels were “OK” or “a little high” — even though all of them had levels that were above their country’s recommendations.

They were largely unaware that their diabetes was poorly controlled, and tended to treat it as a mild disease with a low risk of complications, the survey found.

Dr O’Sullivan believes that the basis for treating diabetes needs to be reconsidered in light of the findings. “These five countries have very different systems for delivering health-care but the problems are the same,” he said. “It is not that doctors aren’t telling them the facts; they are. In some cases people soak up the information they are given and go away and do what they have been advised. But others don’t.

“We are spending huge amounts of money on chronic illnesses but we aren’t flexible enough to adapt to meet the needs of these people. The medical model isn’t working.

“We have got to be more flexible and forgiving. There are a lot of people who miss appointments and simply don’t go back because they think they will be criticised.”

The survey found that in Britain almost 60 per cent of patients had not been given specific recommendations about how often they should check blood glucose levels. That compared with 20 per cent of patients in Germany.

There was also widespread confusion about what a good HbA1c score actually was. Spanish patients quoted an average of 7.07 per cent, French 7.59 per cent, German 8.08 per cent, Italian 8.12 per cent and British 8.41 per cent.

Simon O’Neill, the director of care, information and advocacy services at Diabetes UK, said: “There is no such thing as mild diabetes. It is a serious condition, yet this European survey highlights that this message is failing to get through.

“People with diabetes need to better understand the risks they face and work in partnership with their health-care professionals to better control their condition.” The report concludes that health-care professionals and people with diabetes “need to act now to help stop the diabetes time-bomb”.

Explore Health News

• Swine flu

Times Recommends

• UK regional accents thrive against the odds
• ‘Scarecrow’ wind farms put rare birds to flight
• What an anti-climax: G-spot is a myth