Black diabetes sufferers face less coronary risk

Diabetes, the chronic condition that affects the regulation of the body’s blood sugar levels, varied in scope and significance across different ethnic groups. Somen, such as Native American Indians and Hispanic people, are extremely susceptible because of genetic predisposition and environmental triggers. White people who suffer from type 2 are less likely, when compared to black type 2 diabetics, to suffer from heart attacks, terminal renal disease and strokes. However, African Americans appear to suffer lower rates of coronary artery disease.
The findings were published in Diabetologia, and followed a comprehensive study by the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The results were achieved by a scientific investigation into the levels of calcified plaque built up in carotid and coronary arteries of over 1000 diabetic patients.
Calcified plaque is an indicator of coronary heart disease, and the study recorded that it appeared in markedly smaller quantities in African-Americans, despite their higher risk factor profile. In conclusio, the authors of the study highlighted that discrepancies could exist between ethnic risk factor profiles, and the actuality of the situation.