About 34 million Americans have been diagnosed with diabetes. That’s one in 10. Tens of million more are believed to unknowingly have it or many of the signs that they’re on their way to contracting it.
Dr. Irl Hirsch from UW Medicine’s Diabetes Institute studies why people contract diabetes. He is a diabetic, diagnosed as a child, likely as a result of his genetics. He says his brother and his nephew are also diabetic.
He’s also a researcher who studies why people contract the disease. He's focused on a research project funded by the National Institutes of Health which looks at another type of diabetes.
He spoke recently with SPR's Doug Nadvornick.
