China Diabetes Triples Creating $3.2 Billion Drug Market

Beijing doctor Li Guangwei sees China’s struggle with 90 million diabetes sufferers daily. Among the standing-room-only crowd waiting outside his clinic door are patients with slurred speech, mismatched clothes and aggression.

These are the ones with low blood-sugar, a condition that can make people appear drunk and is often caused by too much of the hormone insulin, said Li, head of Fuwai Hospital’s diabetes unit. More than half of China’s diabetics have inadequate blood-glucose control, a 2011 study of 140,000 patients showed.