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<h1><b><font size=6 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'>Diabetes
epidemic could wipe out indigenous peoples: experts<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><a href="http://www.physorg.com/news82607698.html">http://www.physorg.com/news82607698.html</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Indigenous peoples around the world faced extinction this century
unless an obesity-driven diabetes epidemic was curbed, experts told an
international conference in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>
Monday. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><br>
<!-- Google FISRT Adsense block --><span id="first_ad_unit"></span><!-- ads for no java browsers --><noscript>"We
are dealing with the biggest epidemic in world history," said the director
of Monash University's International Diabetes Institute, Professor Paul Zimmet.
<br>
<br>
"Without urgent action there certainly is a real risk of a major wipe-out
of indigenous communities, if not total extinction, within this century,"
he told an International Diabetes Federation meeting in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Melbourne</st1:place></st1:City>. <br>
<br>
The "diabesity" epidemic threatened the original inhabitants of Asia,
<st1:country-region w:st="on">Australia</st1:country-region>, the Pacific, and
North and <st1:place w:st="on">South America</st1:place>, he said. <br>
<br>
Indigenous people were particularly at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes,
which was primarily caused by obesity, because of the rapid transition to
Western diets and lifestyles, Zimmet said. <br>
<br>
The "thrifty gene" allowed communities of hunter-gatherers to store
fat in times of feast for survival of famines, but modern lifestyles provided
continuous "feasts" and less exercise, he told AFP. <br>
<br>
Complications of Type 2 diabetes, now being found in indigenous children as
young as six years old, include increased risk of heart disease, stroke and
kidney disease. <br>
<br>
Canadian diabetes expert Professor Stewart Harris said with up to half the
adult populations in some indigenous communities affected, diabetes posed a
serious threat to their survival. <br>
<br>
"The rapid cultural transition over one to two generations of many
indigenous communities to a Western diet and sedentary lifestyle has led to
diabetes replacing infectious diseases as the number one threat to their
survival," he said. <br>
<br>
Type 2 diabetes already affected 50 percent of adults on the Pacific Island of
Nauru, up to 45 percent of Sioux and Pima Indians in the <st1:country-region
w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region>, and up to 30 percent of Torres
Strait Islanders in northern <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Australia</st1:place></st1:country-region>,
he said. <img border=0 width=1 height=1 id="_x0000_i1027"
src="cid:image001.gif@01C708D9.BA3AF560"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</noscript>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Diabetes was unknown in the Pacific islands before World War II, the
conference heard. <br>
<br>
Among Torres Strait Islanders, children as young as six have been diagnosed
with diabetes, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Cairns</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Base</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Hospital</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
director Ashim Sinha told the meeting, and teenagers were found to have high
blood pressure and high cholesterol. <br>
<br>
"These children are prone to develop heart attacks, renal failure and blindness
but at a much younger age," he said. <br>
<br>
The world-first three-day conference on diabetes in indigenous peoples aims to
agree on a set of measures to present to the United Nations for an
international effort to curb the epidemic. <br>
<br>
These are likely to include improved maternal and child health services, and
access to an affordable and nutritious diet for impoverished communities,
particularly through child care centres and schools. <br>
<br>
The experts said because dramatic changes to indigenous health had happened
relatively quickly and were largely environmental, it was likely the trend
could be reversed with appropriate management. <br>
<br>
Obesity has reached pandemic proportions throughout the world, not just in
indigenous communities, and is the greatest single contributor to chronic
disease, the 10th International Congress on Obesity heard in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Sydney</st1:place></st1:City> in September. <br>
<br>
The world now has more fat people than hungry ones, according to World Health
Organisation figures, with more than a billion overweight people compared to
800 million who are undernourished. <br>
<br>
<i><span style='font-style:italic'>© 2006 AFP</span></i> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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