Diabetes UK conducted a study in which it found that approximately 6 percent of men aged 45 to 54 have Type 2 diabetes, compared to 3.6 percent of women. According to the study, this type of diabetes, which is linked to unhealthy lifestyles, is more prevalent in men because middle-aged men tend to be heavier than women of the same age. In addition, the study showed that over the last 12 years, the rate of Type 2 diabetes has risen four times faster in men aged 35 to 44 as compared to women of the same age. Obesity is thought to be fueling the increase.

"It's very worrying that men of this age are developing diabetes at such an alarming rate compared to their female counterparts," says Simon O'Neill, director of care, information and advocacy at Diabetes UK. "Most of them will have Type 2 diabetes, which is strongly linked to lifestyle and can be prevented in many cases by eating a healthy, balanced diet and doing regular physical activity." Type 2, which can remain undetected for more than 10 years, occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin. Many people have complications of the disease by the time they are diagnosed. Type 1 diabetes usually develops in childhood or in adolescence and is not typically linked to obesity.

Currently, 2.5 million people are diagnosed with diabetes in the U.K., and approximately 500,000 may have the condition, yet not know it. Those over 40, people with large waist lines or those who have a family history of the disease are at the highest risk. Unfortunately, rates are expected to soar in the next 10 to 20 years, putting a greater number of people at risk for such complications as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure and blindness - and potentially for certain types of cancer. Losing weight can help reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 58 percent, with regular exercise cutting one's risk by 64 percent.

"Women should not rest on their laurels either. They may tend to develop the condition later in life, but the risk of death from heart disease associated with Type 2 diabetes is about 50 percent greater in women than it is in men - not a statistic to be ignored," says O'Neill.

News Release: Middle-aged men twice as likely to suffer Type 2 diabetes than women due to lifestyle, study finds http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1199158/Middle-aged-men-twice-likely-suffer-Type-2-diabetes-women-lifestyle.html July 13, 2009