Sponge Implants May Lower Blood Sugar, Says New Diabetes Research

There is no known cure for diabetes. Current treatment to manage its symptoms could be inconveniently tough for patients. They involve monitoring the sugar level in the blood, and that would mean regularly extracting a blood sample from the arm or finger. Patients are recommended to control weight gain, follow a healthy diet, engage in physical exercise, take oral medication and/or have insulin injections.

Diabetes is also a huge concern financially. It is estimated in 2013 that the medical costs attributed to this disease totaled $176 billion and $69 billion in reduced productivity. Patients hit by the disease also are forced to spend more. People diagnosed with diabetes are approximately spending 2.3 times higher in average medical expenditures than those who are not afflicted by the disease.