Published: 19:02 BST, 29 August 2026 | Updated: 19:30 BST, 29 August 2026
Britain is in the midst of an explosion of type 1 diabetes, with cases set to surge by a third over the next two decades, experts have warned.
Researchers estimate more than 100,000 more Britons will be blighted by the deadly disease over the coming years – reaching a total of 420,500 by 2049.
Cases have already risen by some 25 per cent since the early 2000s, official figures show.
Unlike type 2 diabetes, the condition is not caused by obesity, lack of exercise and poor diet.
Rather, type 1 is an autoimmune problem that typically develops during childhood.
It occurs when the body makes little or no insulin – the hormone responsible for converting sugars in food into energy.
While scientists are yet to identify a single cause for the rise, they believe a combination of environmental triggers could be to blame, including viral infections during childhood, air pollution and forever chemicals.
'This increase is happening too quickly to be explained by changes in our genes alone,' Dr Rosiered Brownson-Smith, an expert from King's College London, told the Daily Mail.
'Instead, researchers think that changes in our environment and early-life exposures may be interacting with genetic susceptibility.
The NHS has approved teplizumab – a new therapy which delays type 1 diabetes for up to three years
'A number of factors are being investigated – including childhood obesity, viral infections, changes in the gut microbiome and reduced exposure to microbes early in life, air pollution and certain chemicals.
However, she added, experts still don't know what exactly is driving the surge.
'It is unlikely that there is one single environmental factor responsible,' she explained.
'The more likely explanation is that several different factors may work together in people who are genetically susceptible to type 1 diabetes.'
