East West - The Asian American Lifestyle Magazine

Update: (November 8, 2007) - According to the American Diabetes Association, one in two minorities born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime if current trends continue.  And Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with diabetes are at high risk for heart disease. November is American Diabetes Month. Learn more and take action now.

By Sonia Boonchanasukit

A 25-year-old third-generation Japanese American, who has adopted the Western lifestyle, has a higher risk of getting diabetes than a 25-year-old Caucasian counterpart. According to Dr. William Hsu, director of the Asian Clinic at the Joslin Diabetes Center, this is something most people, including physicians, are unaware of.

Many Asians don’t appear to be overweight, but when they do gain weight it hovers around their bellies, and that’s what puts them at risk,” Hsu says. “Diabetes is so commonly associated with the elderly and the obese that people tend to forget that genetics is also a factor.  Although Asians are on average smaller than people of other ethnicities, it is a group that is genetically at risk,” he says

According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes is a disease that revolves around the hormone insulin. Insulin is responsible for converting glucose/sugar from food into energy. A problem in the production or usage of the hormone can cause blood sugar levels to rise dramatically, making way for many other complications. When the body fails to produce insulin, a person is said to have Type 1 diabetes. These individuals turn to daily insulin injections for survival. Statistics from the Joslin Diabetes Center show that Type 1 diabetes is most common in natives of North American and European countries. When compared to Caucasians, people from Far East Asia are less susceptible to this form of the disease.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body doesn’t produce enough or fails to use insulin properly. Statistics show that Type 2 diabetes usually occurs among the elderly and overweight and is very common in minority populations, including people of African, Latino, Asian or Native American descent. According to Joslin, 95 percent of the diabetes cases diagnosed in Asians are Type 2.

Many Asians will develop Type 2 diabetes because of their family history with the disease. “First-degree relatives really need to be more aware of their own risks by speaking to their doctors,” Dr. Hsu says. Another form of diabetes very common among Asians is gestational diabetes, he says. This form of the disease occurs in women during pregnancy, and if it occurs, Dr. Hsu says there is a 50 percent risk of developing full-blown diabetes by the time the woman reaches her 30s. This condition is also said to have potential impact on the health of the baby.

Genetics aside, lifestyle choices can often make the difference. According to Dr. Om Ganda, a senior physician and director of the Lipid Clinic at the Joslin Diabetes Center, a recent study by the National Institutes of Health confirms that some practical changes in lifestyle can help slow progression of the disease.

The study was conducted during a three-year period using a nationwide sample of 3,000 people of varying ethnicities. In order to participate, individuals had to have pre-diabetes, a condition where blood sugar levels are not normal and indicate that a person is on their way to developing diabetes. The 3,000 participants were told to make practical changes to their lifestyle by cutting calorie intake and taking regular 30-minute walks. The results showed that in three years these two measures could reduce the progression of the disease by more than 50 percent.

And while watching what you eat, ridding yourself of unnecessary stress and physical exercise can help reduce the chances of getting the disease and/or slow its progression, not enough action is being taken. With the television and Internet acting as every child’s best companion, children and young adults are adapting to a lifestyle made of fewer physical activities and less exercise.

In fact, statistics show that 75 percent of the U.S. population is not getting enough exercise, Ganda says. In spite of incessant media portrayals of the perfect body image and the benefits of working out, national surveys continue to point to increasing obesity rates. “Diabetes genes are very common in our society, if you gain weight and you don’t exercise and you have the tendency to develop diabetes, you should get yourself diagnosed,” he says.

“Diabetes is a disease that doesn’t cause symptoms until later,” Ganda continues. “So it is very easy to be complacent.” For a patient to control the disease, he or she needs to continuously monitor blood sugar levels. “You have to be the master of the disease,” Hsu adds. Both doctors encourage patients to learn as much as possible about the disease and equip themselves with diabetes self-care skills.

Diabetes should also be considered a family affair. For instance, food preparation at home should be considered a part of the medical care for the patient. “You can’t have one member eat separately from everyone else, they need to work the menu into every [family] member’s diet,” Hsu says. Maybe younger generations will then adapt a healthier lifestyle at an earlier age, lessening their risk for years to come.

Get more information at www.joslin.org and www.diabetes.org.