NORFOLK -- Alarming new research shows diabetes and obesity are on the rise in Virginia.
The study by the United Health Foundation in collaboration with America Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention ranks Virginia #20 for the biggest rise in both.
Diabetes cases rose from 6.9% to 8.7% in the past five years - with 535,000 people diagnosed with the disease.
The study says 1.6 million Virginians are obese and there's been a nearly 10% increase in obesity in the last 10 years. (from 18.2% tp 26/4%).
A doctor at the EVMS Strelitz Diabetes Center is working with a $1.15 million grant to study whether a particular protein may prevent obese people from developing Type 2 diabetes.
64 year old Janice Walden has been living with diabetes since age 19. She takes daily medicine and insulin shots. Walden calls the disease a "silent killer" and worries about possibly going blind or losing a limb. She makes a passionate plea to people who are overwieght, saying "Please start living a healthier life. Having diabetes doesn't mean you have to stop living, it just means you have to live a better life."
Doctor Jerry Nadler of EVMS says diabetes can be preventable, it's a matter of eating right, and exercise.
