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BERLIN, Aug 11, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- The number of Germans suffering from diabetes will double in the next five years, a study released this week finds.
The study, composed by 100 leading German doctors and medical scientists, predicted that diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, dementia and strokes will rise substantially in the next decade.
"If the trend continues, we will not be able to finance our health-care system anymore," medical expert Karl Lauterbach told Thursday's edition of the German daily die Welt.
The German government needs to invest more than the current 4 percent of health-care expenditures in the prevention of diseases, he said.
Eighty percent of all diabetes and heart failure cases are preventable with a healthier lifestyle, he said.
Copyright 2005 by United Press International.
