Excluding Sydney suburbs, Tamworth ranked the fourth highest postcode in NSW for diabetes cases, with 2057 people affected by the “silent killer”. 

Tamworth ranked eighth when Sydney suburbs, such as Blacktown, were included. 

Tamworth clinical nurse consultant in diabetes Lynne Gilks said she did not expect Tamworth to rank eighth in the state, but she was not surprised by the figures, which paint diabetes as a huge problem Australia-wide.

About 85 per cent of diabetes cases were type two, which is preventable through lifestyle changes.

“With type two diabetes, people don’t get symptoms, so they don’t know they’ve got it,” Ms Gilks said. 

“But if their blood glucose is too high, it can cause damage to eyes and blindness, it can damage the kidneys and cause kidney failure, it can affect the lower limbs and lead to amputation.

“It can also increase the chance of heart attack.

“They don’t necessarily feel unwell, but they often present with one of these complications.”

Every 15 minutes someone in NSW is diagnosed with the chronic condition. 

Diabetes NSW CEO Sturt  Eastwood was dismayed by the figures. 

“By 2017 we expect diabetes will overtake heart diseases as the leading cause of disease burden in Australia,” he said.

Ms Gilks said country people could face greater risk of being diagnosed with diabetes.

“Out in the country there aren’t always good exercise programs that are sustainable,” she said.

“The further out of metropolitan areas you go, there can be more issues around lower socio-economic situations, which can increase the likelihood of type two diabetes.”

She said a focus on larger meal sizes, consumption of foods high in fats and sugars, sedentary workplaces and family history could all contribute to type two diabetes.

She said the Aboriginal members of our community also have a higher rate of diabetes, as rapid Westernisation of Indigenous people had led to lifestyle changes and increased access to energy-dense food.

Type one diabetes differs from type two in that it is an auto-immune condition where the patient becomes insulin deficient.

In both types the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to regulate glucose or blood-sugar levels. 

National Diabetes Week runs to July 18.