East Coast diabetes timebomb
December 17, 2004
By Rebecca Walsh
Nearly half the adult population surveyed for a study
on the East Coast have been found to be insulin resistant,
putting them at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The study of a rural Maori community showed insulin
resistance, which is believed to be the earliest identifiable
phase of type 2 diabetes and a major risk factor for
heart disease, was more common among those in their
30s.
The authors of the research, published in the New Zealand
Medical Journal today, said the findings were "considerable
cause for concern" as the "diabetes burden"
was likely to escalate unless effective intervention
programmes were put in place.
A separate, national study has found that more than
half the post-menopausal women interviewed were at high
risk of developing type 2 diabetes because they were
overweight or inactive.
A Ministry of Health survey published last year showed
21.4 per cent of Maori males and 13 per cent of Maori
females reported they were diabetic compared to 8.6
per cent of non-Maori males and 7.5 per cent of non-Maori
females.
The latest East Coast survey, based on interviews with
289 people from the patient register of Ngati Porou
Hauroa, a primary healthcare organisation north of Gisborne,
found more than 90 per cent were either overweight or
obese.
A range of tests, including blood tests studying the
levels of insulin and triglycerides (a type of fat in
the blood), showed 40 per cent of women and 36 per cent
of men were insulin resistant.
The researchers said there was little information on
the rates of insulin resistance among the New Zealand
population but overseas studies estimated that as many
as 25 per cent of adults of European descent could be
insulin resistant.
Professor Jim Mann, director of the Edgar National
Centre for Diabetes Research at Otago University and
one of the study authors, said research showed lifestyle
programmes, which included daily exercise and a healthy
diet, could reduce insulin resistance.
Six months ago Ngati Porou Hauroa set up a programme
called "Ngati and Healthy" .
Regional manager Terry Ehau said the project encouraged
people to exercise daily and to reduce the amount of
"white" food they ate - for example, choosing
wholegrain bread instead of white bread.
In the second study, also published in the medical
journal, 54.6 per cent of the 3534 post-menopausal women
interviewed were at high risk for type 2 diabetes.
Of those interviewed, 38.6 per cent were overweight
and 25.6 per cent obese, 32.5 per cent were physically
inactive and 16.9 per cent had a family history of diabetes.
* Another study, using data from the Otago Diabetes
Register, found diabetes was not mentioned on the death
certificates of 45 per cent of 508 patients known to
have the disease.
The researchers said if the impact of the diabetes
epidemic on mortality was to be monitored, it should
be recorded on death certificates irrespective of whether
it was considered the underlying cause of death.
DIABETES AND DIET
A significant percentage of East Coast Maori and post-menopausal
women interviewed in separate research projects are
at risk of developing diabetes.
Common factors in the surveys included lack of exercise
and poor diet.
One solution involves a "white" diet, which
encourages people to switch from white to wholegrain
bread.
Source:www.nzherald.co.nz
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