As the world population eats more crap and exercises less, the numbers of people afflicted with diabetes rises to match it: There were approximately 171 million diabetics in 2000, and researchers estimate 366 million people will have it by 2030. Diabetes diagnoses traditionally get split into type 1, which requires insulin injections to treat, and type 2, which can be managed with diet and exercise. But an article in NewScientist covers a disturbing trend in which newly diagnosed diabetics exhibit symptoms of both type 1 and type 2 diabetics.
More and more children exhibit some symptoms of both types, which some researchers informally call "type 1.5.," while increasing numbers of adults are developing full-blown symptoms of both — a condition known as "double diabetes." These diagnoses present new treatment challenges for physicians and call the very classification of the disease into question.
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