ABSTRACT
Nearly 16 million people in the United States have diabetes, and another 14 million have impaired fasting glucose or the “prediabetes” that is a precursor to development of the metabolic syndrome. Every day, over 2,000 people are newly diagnosed with the condition, while many millions more are completely unaware that they too may be affected. In the long term, diabetes typically leads to complications, such as blindness (retinopathy and cataract), heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, amputations, and painful nerve damage.
