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Diabetes is a chronic (lifelong) disease that affects as many as 16 million Americans. Diabetes is a condition where the body is unable to automatically regulate blood glucose levels, resulting in too much glucose (a sugar) in the blood.

In almost every country of the world, diabetes is on the rise, and the effects can be extremely serious indeed, sometimes even proving fatal.

It is the number one cause of acquired blindness and Type 1 diabetes is one of the most common childhood diseases. Diabetes is also the number one cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is potentially debilitating.

Quite clearly then, diabetes is a serious disease and should not be ignored. Like any illness or disease, the key to managing diabetes is knowledge.

One of the fist things to consider is the relationship between diabetes and obesity which is so clear that a new word has been coined to describe it: diabesity.

For the first time in history, adults aren't the only ones facing the dual challenges of obesity and diabetes; children are too.

Whilst obesity and diabetes appear to go hand-in-hand, the molecular details of the relationship have been unclear and other sedentary behavior such as sitting at work or at home were also associated with increased risk of both obesity and diabetes.

Moreover, obesity is associated with many other serious medical conditions, such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, as well as diabetes. Indeed, the relationship between diabetes and obesity is so strongly established that the discovery of a gene believed to be connected to morbid obesity began as an exploration into the causes of Type I diabetes, which is most commonly diagnosed at the age of 12.

Put obesity and diabetes together and you have an endemic that is likely to put an ever increasing stress on the limits of science in saving lives ' these are the true perils of obesity and diabetes.