Introducing Myself To South Asian Indian Diabetes

Gadi Sagar temple on Gadisar Lake, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India

“Asian Indian” as opposed to American Indian, aka Native Americans.

Since I have a number of blog visitors from India, I decided I need to know more about Indian diabetes. I started by reading “The current sate of diabetes mellitus in India.” I looked at a few other things, too, thanks to the Internet. Here are a few facts and issues:

• India has at least 32 million diabetics (most of whom have type 2 diabetes); it’s the country with the most diabetics (data from 2000)
• The population of India is 1.28 billion
• By 2030, diabetics in India may number 79 million
• The prevalence of diabetes in urban centers is perhaps 9% of the population; higher in southern locales, lower in the north
• Indians tend to see type 2 diabetes at much lower BMIs compared to Western populations
• India is rife with diversity: genetic, cultural, linguistic, socio-economic, among others
• Poverty—or at least lack of affluence—is a major stumbling block to diagnosis, treatment, epidemiologic study, clinical research, and intervention
• Vegetarianism is more common than in the West
• I need to learn more about Indian cuisine and foods such as jowar, chappathis, and chana dal (aka Bengal gram dhal), to name just a few

Indian woman cooking chapati

It’s clear to me that I cannot assume that Indian type 2 diabetes is the same type 2 disease I treat here in Scottsdale, Arizona, an overwhelmingly non-Indian population.  If it’s not the same disease, the optimal treatment may be different. I hope to learn more about Indian diabetes over the next year.

Steve Parker, M.D.