Diabetes

Diabetes is a common life-long health condition. One in 20 people in Scotland have diabetes — the majority (88.2%) have type 2 diabetes and nearly 11% have type 1 diabetes (Scottish Government, 2014). It is thought that a further 35,000 people have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes (ScotPHO) and Diabetes UK estimates that at least 620,000 people in Scotland are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes.  

To improve our understanding of the impact of changing diabetes care on our population, the complications associated with diabetes and the development of new therapies, the NHS Research Scotland (NRS) Diabetes Network, led by Professor Rory McCrimmon, supports the setup and delivery of clinical and epidemiological research across Scotland.

With permission from the Public Benefit and Privacy Panel for NHS Scotland and the West of Scotland Research Ethics committee, the Network's epidemiology group uses anonymous information for people with a diagnosis of diabetes in Scotland for research; publications describing research carried out by the group can be found on ORCID. The Network also supports the Scottish Diabetes Group of the Scottish Government to produce Diabetes Surveys each year.

A wide range of studies is conducted in the NHS focusing on methods of treatment, diagnosis, care and prevention of diabetes and diabetes-related complications. This work also helps support our understanding of the causes of diabetes. Recent studies have included: 

• Internationally funded trials in type 1 diabetes (Bioresource)
• A range of commercial trials of novel therapies for people with diabetes
• A groundbreaking multicentre trial of insulin pump therapy (REPOSE)
• Novel trials of pharmacogenomics (DIRECT)
• Rates of amputation in people with diabetes