Medical Supplies     Durable Medical Products    Prescription Drugs 

Herbals & Vitamins     Medical Books    Physican and Hospital Equip.

Diabetes has increased so quickly, in such a short amount of time, that many refer to it as an "epidemic"— a terminology once only used for infectious diseases. Still the exact cause of diabetes is unclear, but one thing is certain that:

Excess body fat is the leading controllable risk factor for the most common form of this disease, type 2 diabetes. And it's not just Americans who are getting fatter. Diets high in saturated fat and refined carbohydrates coupled with the modern sedentary lifestyle have been instrumental in the alarming rise in obesity and diabetes around the world. Here's how all that fast food add up:

About 64% of U.S. adults (180 million people) are overweight or obese; 30% (85 million) of them are obese.

Worldwide, 1 billion adults are overweight or obese, with 300 million being obese.

Rates vary widely among countries; fewer than 5% of people in China are obese, compared with more than 75% of those in urban Samoa.

There are 1.3 million new cases of diabetes per year in the United States — about twice the 1992 number. The disease is expected to grow another 165% in this country by the year 2050.

In 1985, about 30 million people in the world had diabetes. By 2025, 10 times as many — an estimated 300 million people worldwide — are expected to have this disease.

Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Worldwide, the disease contributes to nearly 1 out of 10 deaths.