Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco analyzed data on the intake of sugar-sweetened drinks and their effects on adults aged 35 and older between the years 1990 and 2000. They found that there were 130,000 fresh diabetes cases and 14,000 new cases of coronary heart disease associated with drinking sweetened beverages, like sports drinks.

"We can demonstrate an association between daily consumption of sugared beverages and diabetes risk and translate this information into estimates of the current diabetes and cardiovascular diseases that can be attributed to the rise in consumption of these drinks," said lead researcher Dr. Litsa Lambrakos. "We want to make the general public more aware of the adverse health outcomes of consuming these drinks over time and help support disease prevention and curb consumption of these drinks."

Exercising, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy, balanced diet are among the best ways to prevent diabetes and control blood sugar levels naturally. Some studies have found that nutritional supplements containing chromium and cinnamon may benefit blood sugar control in diabetics.

Researchers from the Division of Diabetes Translation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory University and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, studied more than 1,400 adults with the condition. Participants were interviewed on their weight loss and exercise attempts and were given both a fasting plasma glucose test and an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test.

They found that more than 90 percent of Americans with prediabetes don’t know that they have the condition. In addition, only about half of the individuals with prediabetes said they were taking steps to reduce their risk, like losing weight or exercising more.

According to the American Diabetes Association, prediabetics have blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Recent research has shown that some long-term damage to the body, especially the heart and circulatory system, may already be occurring during prediabetes.

In addition to weight loss and exercise, nutritional supplements containing cassia cinnamon, chromium, ginseng, glucomannan, guar gum, gymnema, magnesium, milk thistle, prickly pear cactus, soy and stevia may be used to treat or prevent type 2 diabetes.

Researchers studied more than 19,500 individuals between the ages of 50 and 93 in China, where napping is common. Participants were questioned on their medical and lifestyle history – including their napping habits and daytime drowsiness. They also underwent a physical examination that included a blood test to test for the presence of type 2 diabetes.

They found that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 36 percent higher in participants who reported napping four to six times a week and 28 percent higher in those who napped daily.

The authors noted that the association between napping and diabetes was observed despite the fact that nappers had higher levels of physical activity, which has been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes. This suggests that the relationship between napping and diabetes might have been stronger had it not been offset by the protective effects of physical activity.

Exercising, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy, balanced diet are among the best ways to prevent diabetes and control blood sugar levels naturally. Some studies have found that nutritional supplements containing chromium and cinnamon may benefit blood sugar control in diabetics.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh studied more than 900 men and women between the ages of 60 and 75 with type 2 diabetes. They evaluated participants’ mental abilities with a range of tests, including memory function and how quickly they processed information. The findings were then compared with general intelligence levels to determine whether participants’ brain function had diminished over time. They found that brain function slowed in subjects with higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

"This study shows that older people with diabetes who have higher levels of stress hormones in their blood are more likely to have experienced cognitive decline," said researcher Dr. Rebecca Reynolds. "It may be that by regulating cortisol levels, we could help improve cognitive decline in patients with type 2 diabetes."

Exercising, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy, balanced diet are among the best ways to prevent diabetes and control blood sugar levels naturally.

Natural methods of reducing stress include exercise, relaxation and breathing exercises, tai chi, yoga and meditation.

Researchers at Warwick Medical School in the United Kingdom say their analysis found that there is a significant association between high levels of vitamin D in middle-aged and elderly people, and a decreased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (33 percent compared to low levels of vitamin D), type 2 diabetes (55 percent reduction) and metabolic syndrome (51 percent reduction).

"Targeting vitamin D deficiency in adult populations could potentially slow the current epidemics of cardiometabolic disorders," said the study’s co-author, Dr. Oscar Franco.

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in some foods and is also produced when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin D synthesis.

Healthcare experts say it is important in fighting several medical conditions such as cancer and osteoporosis.

Vitamin D is available in nutritional supplement form as well as in dietary sources like dairy products, fortified cereals, and fish such as salmon, tuna and mackerel.

Researchers in Japan assessed response inhibition, which is a measure of self-control, in 27 patients with type-2 diabetes and 27 healthy controls.

They used a test in which participants had to quickly press a button in response to the correct signal on a computer screen. They found that patients with diabetes performed significantly worse at the test, suggesting that they struggled to control the impulse to press the button. Other results showed that the inhibitory failure observed in diabetic patients was mainly explained by cognitive impairment of impulsivity control, rather than by deficits in motor performance, error monitoring and adjustment.

"This suggests the possibility that the neuropsychological deficits in response inhibition may contribute to the behavioral problems leading to chronic lifestyle-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes," said lead researcher Hiroaki Kumano.

The study, published in the journal BioPsychoSocial Medicine, suggests that neurological changes result in an inability to resist temptation, which may in turn exacerbate diabetes.

Exercising, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy, balanced diet are among the best ways to prevent diabetes and control blood sugar levels naturally.

Nutritional supplements containing beta carotene, blond psyllium, chromium, flaxseed, ginseng and milk thistle are among the substances believed to help naturally lower blood sugar in diabetics.

The number of Americans living with the disease is expected to hit more than 44 million in 2034, according to the study. In addition, the study estimates that healthcare spending on diabetes will triple in the same time frame, to $336 billion.

"If we don’t change our diet and exercise habits or find new, more effective and less expensive ways to prevent and treat diabetes, we will find ourselves in a lot of trouble as a population," said the study’s lead author, Dr. Elbert Huang of the University of Chicago.

The 2009 Diabetes Care study attributes much of the increase in cases and in costs to the aging "baby boomer" population—the 77 million Americans born between 1946 and 1957—who are approaching the age of retirement. And while facing higher risks for complications from diabetes, this group is also approaching the age where they qualify for federal health insurance.

According to the Mayo Clinic, risk factors for developing diabetes include family history, being overweight, leading an inactive lifestyle and high blood pressure.

Exercising, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy, balanced diet are among the best ways to prevent diabetes and control blood sugar levels naturally.

Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed 92 doctors and their nearly 1,200 patients who had diabetes and hypertension. Of the 714 pairs, 28 percent did not prioritize health conditions the same way.

While both groups frequently ranked diabetes and hypertension among their top concerns, 38 percent of doctors were more likely to rank hypertension as the most important, while only 18 percent of diabetics said it was the most important. Patients were also more likely to prioritize symptoms such as pain and depression.

"If a patient and their doctor do not agree on which of these issues should be prioritized, it will be difficult for them to come up with an effective treatment plan together," said the study’s lead author Dr. Donna Zulman.

The findings show that doctors are often concerned about the risk of long-term diabetes complications such as heart disease or kidney disease while patients may be concerned with symptomatic problems such as back pain or depression.

Nutritional supplements containing beta carotene, blond psyllium, chromium, flaxseed, ginseng and milk thistle are among the substances believed to help naturally lower blood sugar in diabetics.

Researchers conducted overnight polysomnography tests on 60 individuals with type 2 diabetes to determine if they had OSA. They also assessed the participants’ glucose control by obtaining blood samples for hemoglobin A1c, which is the main clinical marker of glycemic control in diabetes.

They found that 77 percent of participants had OSA, although only five individuals had been previously evaluated for it. In addition, researchers said that more severe OSA was associated with poorer glucose control, which leads to more severe cases of the condition.

"Our findings have important clinical implications as they support the hypothesis that reducing the severity of OSA may improve glycemic control," said the study’s lead author Dr Renee Aronsohn. "Effective treatment of OSA may represent a novel and non-pharmacologic intervention in the management of type 2 diabetes."

Sleep apnea occurs when individuals have their breathing briefly interrupted while they are sleeping. The National Institutes of Health reports that the condition affects as many as 12 million Americans.

Treatment options include lifestyle changes such as weight loss and avoiding alcohol. Oral appliances are also believed to help, according to the American Sleep Apnea Association.

A study published in The Annals of Internal Medicine found that people who quit smoking had a 70 percent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the first six years without cigarettes as compared to people who never smoked.

The risks were highest in the first three years after quitting and returned to normal after 10 years.

Researchers who conducted the study at Johns Hopkins say they suspect the elevated diabetes risk is related to the extra pounds people typically put on after quitting smoking and caution that no one should use the study’s results as an excuse to keep smoking, which is also a risk factor for lung disease, heart disease, strokes and many types of cancer.

"The message is: Don’t even start to smoke," says study leader Dr Hsin-Chieh "Jessica" Yeh. "If you smoke, give it up. That’s the right thing to do. But people have to also watch their weight."

Cigarette smoking is a well-known risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

According to the Mayo Clinic, eating healthy, getting regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight are the best ways to prevent the condition. Some studies have found that nutritional supplements containing chromium and cinnamon may benefit blood sugar control in diabetics.