This has been assured Alba Dr. Alfonso Lopez, coordinator of the Diabetes Working Group and Society of the entity on the occasion of World Diabetes held on 14 November. "The best investment, even in times of crisis, is to increase spending on diabetes," he says.

After the high cost of diabetes is to hide the Spanish health "numerous complications" arising from the same, such as retinopathy, nephropathy and diabetic foot, along with other lesser known as neuropathy and impotence in males, periodontal disease, myocardial infarction and stroke.

However, "up to 40 percent are preventable through strict control of the disease," says this expert, told Europa Press, hence the future savings would be achieved with an initial investment.

One of the examples used by the SED to highlight the importance of a current control for the future is the management of test strips for measuring blood glucose, proper use of which could prevent the cost in cases of severe hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia among 1,500 to 10,000 euros per person hospitalized.

Addressing the problem of diabetes is a disease is "silent" that "takes several years to come forward." In fact, Lopez says Alba, of more than 4.5 million people with diabetes in Spain third (1.5 million) do not know who has it.

Also, the fact that its initial effects are not as "harmful" as those of other diseases makes many patients diagnosed as "not perceive the impact it can have in the future. Therefore, since the SED proposed greater investment in prevention programs aimed at people with diabetes and healthcare professionals in order to "reduce the high human and material costs caused."

"Although initially cost money in the long run will be an investment," notes the expert, who also notes the steady increase in the number of cases derived from a "childhood obesity becoming more prevalent."

According to this expert pointed out 20 years ago only 6 percent of Spanish children were obese, which has resulted in 30 percent of the adult population now has diabetes. "If we extrapolate the data of current childhood obesity - 19% of children 6 to 9 years, according to the Ministry of Health - it is not surprising that within 20 years of the adult population have diabetes," he concludes.