Diabetes: The State of the Epidemic

Nearly a century has passed since the discovery of injectable insulin in the 1920s turned the tide on diabetes, helping to save countless lives. Today, even as research into the disease proceeds apace, the diabetes epidemic continues to grow. In California alone, an estimated 4 million people (one out of every seven adults) have diabetes, and the disease costs the U.S. health care system more than $200 billion annually. What solutions can modern laboratory and clinical research provide? How close are we to finding new ways to prevent, treat, better manage, or even cure the disease? How can public health approaches address the epidemic?