EthnicMajority

(Medicalxpress.com) Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center have determined key differences between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in the Asian American population. This study, published today in PLoS ONE, identified ways to differentiate the types of diabetes, which can be clinically similar in young Asian Americans.

During a pilot study of 30 healthy-weight diabetic and non-diabetic Asian Americans, the researchers proved that insulin resistance was consistently higher in those with type 2 diabetes, despite their normal body mass index (BMI).

Diabetes in Asian and Asian American populations is rising. China currently has the largest population of diabetics in the world, at 92 million, followed by India (50 million), compared to the United States' 27 million. This study has identified reliable diagnostic tools for identifying type 2 diabetes, making correct diagnoses quicker. It has also identified critical physical differences in Asian patients with diabetes that should be considered in making recommendations for proper treatment.

Full story…

(Huffington Post) Latinos suffer from wide ranging health disparities in comparison to non-Hispanic whites. They are twice as likely, for example, as non-Hispanics of the same age, to have diabetes and to develop complications from diabetes such as heart disease, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, amputations and nerve damage. While we know these disparities are caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors, we don't know to what degree each are involved for many conditions disproportionately affecting Latinos. That's where modern genomics comes into play.

With the Human Genome Project complete for over a decade, the benefits of genomic data
are now trickling into the business and practice of medicine. The passage of the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act in 2008 and the Affordable Care Act in 2010 have set the rules of the road, and made the critical investments necessary to lay the ground work for new advances in American genomics research. In the coming years, as the price of whole-genome scans come down and the medical community enters a new era of personalized medicine, we will have a new set of tools with which to study the origin of diseases affecting specific populations.

Genetics can reveal useful information about an individual's health status, but they can also reveal unexpected information about group identity. The Latino community is both genetically and culturally diverse; and as gene-based medicine advances, Latinos will need to make sure that new medical technologies serve that diversity.

Full story…

(BusinessWeek) Minorities have a significantly lower chance of getting a kidney transplant than whites do, claims a new study that calls for changes in the formula used to decide who gets which donated organs.

The research, conducted at the University of Washington in Seattle, found that once “waitlisted” for a needed kidney, white patients were 40 percent more likely to receive a transplant than blacks, Hispanics, Asians and others. Lack of health insurance, poverty and cultural barriers were partly to blame for the disparity, the researchers found.

“Unfortunately, the disparities that we describe largely mirror racial or ethnic disparities in general health care in the United States,” said study author Dr. Yoshio Hall, a professor of medicine and a researcher at the Kidney Research Institute in the department of medicine at the University of Washington.

When he worked at a large public hospital, Hall said he saw many poor, non-white, underinsured kidney patients were unable to obtain transplants at all.

Full story…

(Kansas City Star) It may take an Oprah-like TV personality to get people to turn away from bad eating and other habits to set the U.S. population on a healthier course.

The data for obesity, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and heart disease don’t look good — particularly for African-Americans. The death rate for them is among the highest, with no sign of changes to prevent a premature demise.

But Mehmet Oz, a physician and host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” told the National Association of Black Journalists convention last month in San Diego that a change of strategy has to occur to get people to adopt healthier habits. Doctors, health care workers and government officials have to appeal to folks’ “feelings” instead of hitting them with mind-numbing data.

The numbers are a turnoff. People have to “turn on” to change because it “feels” like the right thing to do.

This was the second national black convention in a month to put health concerns at the top of the agenda. The first was the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s meeting in Kansas City.

Full story…