NEW YORK, NY February 07, 2008 —A major federal study is giving diabetics researchers pause. It found aggressively lowering blood sugar levels actually increased a study group's risk of death. That goes against some 50 years of assumptions about the best way to treat this chronic illness, one that has reached epidemic levels in New York City.

About 800,000 adults New Yorkers -- one in every eight -- now have diabetes. So, what's a diabetic to do? Dr. Robin Goland is the co-director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Hospital and she speaks with WNYC's Amy Eddings.