Every June, Diabetes Awareness Week, which is led by Diabetes UK, provides a chance to engage in meaningful conversations, dispel myths, and show our support for those managing this challenging condition daily. This year, it will take place from Monday 8 to Sunday 14 June 2026.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a condition in which the body cannot properly process glucose. Glucose is the specific type of blood sugar our bodies create by breaking down all the carbohydrates we eat—including both natural sugars found in fruit and complex carbs like wholemeal bread or brown rice—to use as fuel.
Normally, once the body makes this glucose from our food, the pancreas releases a vital hormone called insulin, which acts like a "key" to let this sugar out of the blood and into our cells for energy.
In diabetes, this process breaks down because the body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use it properly. This leaves the glucose locked in the bloodstream, where it builds up and damages blood vessels and nerves over time.
While medical professionals recognise many distinct forms of diabetes—including gestational diabetes during pregnancy, the vast majority of cases fall into two main categories:
- Type 1 Diabetes: This is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Because the pancreas can no longer make insulin, the body is left completely without the "keys" needed to let glucose into the cells. As a result, glucose builds up in the bloodstream dangerously fast. This type develops quickly, cannot be prevented, and is not linked to diet or lifestyle choices.
- Type 2 Diabetes: In this type, the system breaks down differently. Either the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, or the body's cells develop resistance to it—meaning the insulin keys that let the glucose out no longer work properly. As a result, glucose is unable to enter cells and builds up in the bloodstream over time. Type 2 accounts for roughly 90% of adult cases in the UK. It develops slowly and is heavily influenced by factors such as genetics, age, and lifestyle.
Type 1 Diabetes: Symptoms and Treatment
Once the pancreas completely stops making insulin in Type 1 diabetes, the signs appear very quickly—often over just a few weeks or even days. When glucose is locked out of the cells, the body reacts dramatically.
In the UK, healthcare professionals use a simple checklist called The 4 Ts to help people spot the warning signs instantly:
- Toilet: Going to the toilet to urinate very frequently, especially at night.
- Thirst: An unquenchable, extreme thirst.
- Tiredness: Feeling exhausted, weak, or having no energy.
- Thinner: Losing weight quickly and unexpectedly without trying.
Other common signs include blurred vision, frequent thrush episodes, and cuts or wounds that take an unusually long time to heal.
Type 1 Treatment: As the body produces zero insulin, people living with Type 1 must replace those missing "keys" every day. This requires taking insulin daily via multiple injections or a continuous insulin pump. They must also check their glucose levels regularly throughout the day to ensure the balance is right.
Type 2 Diabetes - Symptoms and Treatment
Unlike Type 1, the symptoms of Type 2 diabetes can take years to appear. Because the body's cells develop a resistance to insulin, the insulin keys no longer work properly. In response, the pancreas tries to keep up by pumping out extra insulin, meaning glucose builds in the bloodstream very slowly. As a result, the early symptoms are often so mild that they go completely unnoticed.
- Weeing a lot, especially at night.
- Being really thirsty.
- Feeling more tired than usual.
- Losing weight without trying to – and getting thinner.
- Genital itching or thrush.
- Cuts and wounds are taking longer to heal.
- Blurred eyesight.
- Behaviour changes like feeling more irritable.
Type 2 Treatment: Early stages are often managed through lifestyle changes, including a balanced diet, weight loss, and regular physical activity, which help the body's cells use insulin keys more effectively. Over time, Type 2 usually requires prescription tablets—such as metformin—to help lower glucose levels and may eventually require insulin injections to keep glucose in a safe target range.
The Legal Perspective
While general failures to manage standard diabetes are rare, clinical negligence claims frequently stem from diabetes-related lower limb complications. Faulty insulin keys and high glucose levels restrict blood flow and cause nerve damage, so a minor scratch can rapidly lead to the following if mismanaged by health professionals:
Examples of medical negligence claims arising as a result of diabetes include:
- Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD): Severely narrowed arteries that block blood flow to the limbs. In legal claims, negligence often involves health professionals’ failure to screen for, diagnose, or treat this restricted circulation in high-risk diabetic patients.
- Wound Care Failures: Open foot ulcers and infections that fail to heal due to poor circulation. This can occur when health professionals fail to implement appropriate dressings or aggressive antibiotic therapy, allowing a minor injury to deteriorate.
- Gangrene: Severe tissue death caused by a total lack of blood supply and unmanaged infection. This is often the final, irreversible stage of substandard care, where emergency amputation becomes the only viable option to prevent life-threatening sepsis.
- Diabetic retinopathy: High blood sugar levels damage the cells at the back of the eye, known as the retina. If it is not treated, it can lead to blindness.
- Gestational Diabetes: High blood sugar that develops during pregnancy and usually disappears after giving birth. If not diagnosed, it can lead to severe, lifelong complications for mother and baby.
To learn more about about diabetes leading to amputation, please click here. And to learn more about Gestational Diabetes, please click here.
Trainee Solicitor, Yusuf Takoliya, observes: “It is remarkable to think that suffering from diabetes can lead to such severe lower limb complications. It is absolutely imperative to be aware of these risks to avoid serious, life-altering problems going forward”
