Child medical prescriptions for the most common form of diabetes doubled between 2002-2005, part of a general trend of increased medication for chronic illnesses among young people, a new study showed Monday.

The annual cost of treating adult cases of diabetes in the United States nearly doubled between 2001 and 2007, according to a study published Monday that questioned the efficacy of new, more expensive drugs.

NAIROBI, July 12, 2008 (AFP) - A Kenyan diabetes group Saturday called for free treatment for patients aged under 18 as a minister warned that the disease was a 'medical time bomb' in the east African country.

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2008 (AFP) - Some 24 million Americans suffer from diabetes, an increase of more than three million in just the last two years, according to US government figures.

The Mediterranean diet, which is famously beneficial for the cardiovascular system, also helps protect against diabetes, according to a paper published online Thursday by the British Medical Journal.

PARIS, May 23, 2008 (AFP) - Aggressive insulin treatment or lifestyle changes at the onset of diabetes can sharply curb the incidence and impact of the disease over the long haul, according to two studies released Friday.

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2008 (AFP) - A single gene called erythropoietin (EPO) helps raise the risk among diabetics of developing severe eye and kidney complications, a study released Monday said.

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2008 (AFP) - The number of women suffering from diabetes who fall pregnant has more than doubled in the past six years, raising fears their children could also become diabetic, a new study said Monday.

Researchers examined 175,249 teenage girls and women who gave birth in 11 hospitals run by the Kaiser Permanente Foundation in California between 1999 and 2005.

SYDNEY, April 28, 2008 (AFP) - Australian scientists may have discovered how to help people lose weight without cutting back on food, a breakthrough that could pave the way for fat-burning drugs.

Researchers in Melbourne found that by manipulating fat cells in mice they were able to speed up the animals' metabolisms.

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2008 (AFP) - Men who develop diabetes in middle age are at significantly increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease later in life, according to a long-term study published Wednesday.

The study involved 2,269 men in Sweden who underwent testing at age 50 for diabetes, a disease caused by abnormal insulin levels.