24M Americans Diabetic: CDC

Almost 8% of the US population has diabetes, the government reported today. About 24 million Americans suffer from type-1 or -2 diabetes, an increase of 3 million since 2005, Reuters notes. Another 57 million Americans are pre-diabetic, a condition of insulin insensitivity that predisposes them to type-2 diabetes, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

"It is concerning to know that we have more people developing diabetes," a CDC director said. “On the other hand, it is good to see that more people are aware that they have it. That is an indication that our efforts to increase awareness are working, and more importantly, that more people are better prepared to manage this disease and its complications." (More diabetes stories.)