Not only is diabetes on the rise in the United States, but so is the cost, to the tune of about $245 billion last year. It's part of the American Diabetes Association's most recent study. That cost is an increase of more than 40 percent from 2007. YNN’s Brittany Edney takes a look at why the number is skyrocketing.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

NATIONWIDE -- Timothy Bowman said diabetes runs in his family but nothing could prepare him for the moment his diagnosis became a reality.

"I didn't think I'd ever get it, to be honest with you," said diabetes patient Timothy Bowman.

In 2005, doctors told him he had type-2 diabetes.

"I had to learn a whole new lifestyle, completely. When I first got it, I spent four hours in the grocery store trying to find something to eat because I was afraid to eat," said Bowman.

And medicals costs add up. National research shows out of every $10 spent on health care, more than a dollar of it is spent directly on diabetes and its complications.

"The cost just keeps going up and it gets real expensive. Doctor visits, syringes, and insulin is way high," said Bowman.

The American Diabetes Association said the price increase isn't because treatment is more expensive, but rather more people have the disease. Nearly 26 million adults and children across the country have the disease.

"Not only do you have that number, but you have about 80 million citizens who have pre-diabetes," said Dr. Ronny Bell, professor of Public Health Sciences.

Doctors believe that prevention can help.

"I think it does point to the fact that prevention really can have a major public health impact but it can also have a significant economic impact," said Dr. Bell.

"I have lost weight, because you have to change your whole lifestyle completely," said Bowman.

Doctors want people to make these changes before the diagnosis.