Currently, there are about 25 million Americans with diabetes. Of those, 1.5 million have type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile onset diabetes, and 23.5 million have type 2, formerly called adult onset diabetes. Unless Americans drastically change their dietary and exercise habits, diabetes may play a major role in nearly 90 percent of all patients seen by U.S. physicians in the next five to 10 years and could force healthcare costs to climb dramatically.