I had someone ask me last week if there was a cure for diabetes. He said he had seen several claims to that effect on products offered on the Internet. This encounter got me thinking about ominous things to come.

Currently there are 20-22 million people in the U.S. alone that have diabetes. Millions more have it and don’t know it. That numbers swells when you consider the rest of the world. Diabetes is huge in Asia and growing at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world.

The point is that there are millions of potential customers for unscrupulous con artists and snake oil salesmen who offer “the cure” for one of the world’s worst diseases. The effects of diabetes are so devastating as to cause the people who have it to tend to become gullible if not desperate-prime victims for a scam.

In 2005, the last year stats were available, over $10 BILLION was spent on diabetes. That figure is expected to grow by as much as 70% as the population gets older and obesity continues to be a huge challenge. That is enough money to attract some unsavory characters.

Millions and millions of dollars are spent each year searching for a cure to diabetes. Stem cell research offers hope for this and other diseases. Until a cure is found, the best you can do is control diabetes. YOU CAN CONTROL DIABETES. Unfortunately there is no cure.

You can bet your last nickel that when a cure is found it will make headlines for weeks if not months. It will be one of the biggest news stories of the decade.

Until then do your best to control this disease and resist the urge to try to the “new miracle cures” that are offered with regularity on the Internet. BUYER BEWARE.