The number of new cases of type 2 diabetes among middle-aged Americans has doubled over the past 30 years, researchers report.

“There has been tremendous concern, but probably not enough concern, about the emerging epidemic of diabetes,” said Dr. Robert Rizza, a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic and president of the American Diabetes Association. “It doesn’t take long to be doubling before the numbers are simply too great to be even conceived of.”

“We’ve got to stop this, and, of course, it’s obesity which is driving it,” Rizza added. “This is a biologic weapon which has been unleashed on our population — its name is diabetes.”

Experts agree that the great increase in obesity over the same time frame appears to be responsible for the growing incidence of diabetes. An estimated two-thirds of adult Americans are now overweight or obese.

“These [diabetes numbers] warrant monitoring, especially if we continue to see increases in the trends of obesity,” said study lead author Dr. Caroline S. Fox, a medical officer at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Framingham Heart Study.

In type 2 diabetes, the body either doesn’t produce enough insulin — the hormone that converts blood sugar to energy for cells — or the cells ignore the insulin. Left untreated, the disease can produce complications such as heart disease, blindness, nerve and kidney damage.

This trend must be reversed to avoid serious repercussions for the U.S. economy and health-care system, Rizza said.

. “Our health-care system and our nation’s economy cannot tolerate one in three people having diabetes.”

One expert thinks the only way to correct the problem is by making a total lifestyle change.

“This epidemic results, almost entirely, from obesity and sedentary behavior,” said Cathy Nonas, director of the obesity and diabetes program at North General Hospital, in New York City, and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

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