Asian-Americans feel the diabetes surge

It is now well understood that diabetes can strike at any nation throughout the world. Numerous ethnic minorities have been found to be more susceptible to developing the disease. This includes Native American Indians, aboriginal people in several countries, Asians in the UK, and according to recent reports, Asian-Americans are also under threat.
Unfortunately, patients with Asian heritage often exhibit different symptoms to other ethnic groups. In many cases the principal indicator of diabetes, obesity, is conspicuously absent. Doctors and healthcare experts therefore find it hard to recognise diabetics until side effects are advanced.
Although currently Asian-Americans are less likely to suffer from obesity when compared to white people, new studies indicate that they are as much as three times as likely to develop type 2 diabetes, the NDEP (National Diabetes Education Program) concludes. The scale of the problem is also alarming, with one expert at the Joslin Diabetes Centre estimating a 10 per cent share of the population as diabetic.
Asians have been found to put on fat in the abdomen, a traditional danger area. They face distinctive culturally sensitive threats in terms of diet, language barriers and a healthcare system geared towards other minorities. Unfortunately there is an ingrained cultural block to talking about the disease: education and awareness are slow to spread and take effect.
The problem mirrors similar issues in the UK Asian communities.