Alarming new diabetes research predicts almost one-third of Australians with diabetics disease will die in the next decade, Australian Associated Press reported.

The figures, presented at an international diabetes conference on Tuesday in Sydney, are the first to forecast the mortality and morbidity in Australia due to type two diabetes, and the picture is grim.

From a nationally-representative sample of diabetics, 13 percent would die in the next five years and 31 percent would be dead within a decade.

One in five will have a heart attack by 2018, and one in 12 will suffer stroke or other complications like amputation, blindness and renal failure.

About 700,000 Australians have diabetes, with about 85 percent diagnosed with the type two, a lifestyle form of the condition which is triggered by poor diet, lack of exercise and resulting weight gain.

Experts have warned of a looming "diabesity" crisis, as a growing number of Australians of all ages are burdened with the twin lifestyle conditions.

(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2008)