The Takeaway: 1 In 10 Could Have Diabetes By 2030; The TV, Exercise and Depression Link

Diabetes Spreading, But Preventable: Today, November 14, marks World Diabetes Day, a campaign designed by the International Diabetes Foundation to raise global awareness about this chronic disease. According to a new report released by IDF, one in 10 adults worldwide-some 522 million people-could have diabetes by 2030. And this figure doesn't include the impact rising global obesity rates will have on diabetes development; rather, the projections are based on things like aging and demographic trends.

Recent studies  have linked impaired glucose tolerance (even at a pre-diabetes level) to  dementia risk-making the rising number of diabetes cases all the more worrying. But Gojka Roglic, head of the World Health Organization's diabetes unit, told USA Today that a substantial number of future diabetes cases are preventable:

In the November issue of AARP the Magazine, Dr. Oz writes about some of the latest diabetes interventions-including brief, restrictive diets and weight-loss surgery that can reverse the course of the disease. The fact that some diabetes can be stopped or reversed is something that many people don't realize. Almost 19 million Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes, and 79 million Americans are thought to have pre-diabetes. But pre-diabetes isn't a strict chronic disease sentence, either: According to the Diabetes Prevention Program, overweight people with pre-diabetes can reduce their risk of developing the disease by 58 percent if they lose just 5 to 7 percent of their body weight.

A study released yesterday strengthens the association between sugar-sweetened drinks like soda and diabetes. In the study, women ages 45-84 who drank two or more sugary beverages a day were more likely to have heart disease, a larger waist and Type 2 diabetes. These risks were higher even when the women were of normal weight. 

Depressed? Put Down The Remote: A new study of thousands of older women in the United States found those who got the most exercise and watched the least television were the least likely to be diagnosed with depression. According to the study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology:

This seems like a prime chicken-or-egg question to me, though: Isn't it likely that happier women were more likely to get out and exercise more often, while women suffering from depression were more likely to spend time in front of the TV?

Monday Quick Hits: 

• The anti-clotting drug rivaroxaban, approved by the FDA this month for stroke prevention, does indeed help lower the risk of heart attack, stroke and death in patients hospitalized for a heart attack or chest pain, new research finds.

• The percentage of American adults who get health insurance from their employers continues to decline, recently falling to 44.5 percent.

• A new Obama administration initiative will provide funds to hire and train more health care workers.

• Regular teeth cleaning helps reduce the risk of heart disease.

• Fifty-five-year-old Kim Cattrall, best known for her role as Samantha in Sex and the City, takes on Broadway as the leading lady in a new revival of Noel Coward's 'Private Lives.'

• And Evelyn Lauder-creator of the pink ribbon campaign for breast cancer awareness and former executive for cosmetics giant Estee Lauder (founded by her mother-in-law)-has died, from complications of ovarian cancer; she was 75.