It is a pleasure to serve under your chairwomanship, Ms Buck. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for bringing this important debate to the Chamber today and for his comprehensive introduction to the subject, which included his own personal experience. I speak in my capacity as co-secretary of the all-party parliamentary group for diabetes, and I recognise the hon. Gentleman’s active role as vice-chair of the group.
My interest in diabetes comes from my background as an NHS clinical scientist, as well as the major health issues presented to our communities by the prevalence of diabetes. My constituency has a higher than average incidence of diabetes—8.5% of the population compared with 6.7% overall in England—so I am always interested in what steps can be taken to improve control of the condition and what preventive measures can be taken to lessen the risk of type 2 diabetes developing.
I want to draw attention to the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and I sometimes think it would be helpful if we considered them to be two completely separate and distinct diseases. I stress that while being overweight or obese is a major risk factor in type 2 diabetes, type 1 is caused by the body not being able to produce enough insulin and is an autoimmune disease. Although diet and exercise have a role to play in type 1 diabetes management, they cannot reverse the disease or eliminate the need for insulin. It is important to stress that, because of the number of times I have stood in this Chamber and listened to MPs saying, “If only people would lose weight their diabetes would be cured.” It is misleading, and it is unfair to people who are unfortunate enough to suffer from type 1 diabetes.