DIABETICS across the south need to be better educated about the risks of diabetes, according to an Isle of Wight GP.

A risk survey of more than 1,000 people in the UK with the most common form of the condition, type 2 diabetes, reveals that 66 per cent did not list death as one of their main diabetes-related fears.

Type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body is unable to respond properly to the insulin it makes, is the fourth leading cause of death in developed countries.

Dr Eugene Hughes, a member of Primary Care Diabetes Europe and a GP on the Isle of Wight, said: "The findings of this survey are frightening because for many of our patients with type 2 the clock is already ticking.

"This survey shows that we need to educate and motivate these people to help them understand the nature of type 2 diabetes and how they can optimise management to reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke."

Some 75 per cent of people with type 2 diabetes will die from cardiovascular disease, but, in the survey, nearly half of those questioned did not list heart problems as a diabetes-related fear.