Sneha Khedkar in The Scientist:
As a person of Indian origin, Alka Kanaya saw diabetes and heart disease wreak havoc in her family. As a general internist and physician scientist at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Kanaya witnessed a similar trend. “It’s very common to see a young South Asian man present with a heart attack in their thirties and forties, where you don’t see that in other groups,” said Kanaya.
While South Asians make up about a quarter of the world’s population, they bear nearly 60 percent of the global burden of heart disease.1 They are also more prone to diabetes compared to other ethnic groups.2 Some hypotheses attribute these outcomes to insulin resistance, wherein cells do not respond to insulin, and central adiposity, or fat accumulation around the midsection.
More here.
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