Diabetes

In India, where silk is plentiful, the luxe fabric turns out to be more efficient — and cheaper — than paper or plastic for testing a diabetic's glucose levels.

Keeping blood sugar under control reduces the risk of early death for people with Type 1 diabetes, a study finds. But keeping that tight control can be hard, even for people with good health care.

Guidelines just out from the American Diabetes Association say Asian-Americans with a typically healthy body mass index can still be running a substantial risk for developing diabetes.

SugarScience, a website created by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, distills the findings of 8,000 scientific studies on the health effects of sugar. The takeaway? Eat less.

Diabetes costs the United States $322 billion a year, or $1,000 for each American. That's 48 percent more than it was just five years ago.

Many cities and states have tried, but Berkeley, Calif., is the first to pass a penny-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The goal is to reduce sugar consumption to improve public health.

The risk of developing tuberculosis soars when someone has diabetes. The threat of a double pandemic is a challenge for the medical profession, where different docs typically treat each disease.

Are you more an apple or a pear? If it's the former, you've got company. Americans' waistlines are growing, even though obesity rates have plateaued. And more belly fat increases health risks.

Doctors and poets are collaborating in California to encourage young people to tell stories about Type 2 diabetes in their communities.