While diabetes balloons, here's a simple preventive

The number of adults with diabetes worldwide has more than doubled since 1980 to 347 million, a far larger number than previously thought and one that suggests costs of treating the disease will also balloon. In a study published in the The Lancet, an international team of researchers working with The World Health Organization found that rates of diabetes have either risen or at best remained the same in virtually all parts of the world in the past 30 years.

One inexpensive way to stop the diabetes trend may be to boost higher levels of vitamin D in the blood. According to new research presented at the July 2011 American Diabetes Association 71st Scientific Sessions, vitamin D levels appear to be associated with a reduced risk for incident diabetes among people at high risk for the disease. Participants with vitamin D levels in the highest tertile had the lowest risk for developing diabetes, compared with those with vitamin D levels in the lowest tertile.