The nation's diabetes problem is getting worse, and the biggest
jump over 15 years was in Oklahoma, according to a new federal
report issued Thursday. The diabetes rate in Oklahoma more than
tripled, and Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama also saw dramatic
increases since 1995, the study showed. The South's growing
weight problem is the main explanation, said Linda Geiss, lead
author of the report by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention study. "The rise in diabetes has really gone hand in
hand with the rise in obesity," she said. Bolstering the numbers
is the fact that more people with diabetes are living longer
because better treatments are available. The disease exploded in
the United States in the last 50 years, with the vast majority
from obesity-related Type 2 diabetes. In 1958, fewer than 1 in
100 Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes. In 2010, it was
about 1 in 14. Most of the increase has happened since 1990.
Diabetes is a disease in which the body has trouble processing
sugar; it's the nati