Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
A study from the University of Wisconsin shows that
Pima Indians in America are more than five times more likely to
develop diabetes than their relatives in Mexico (Diabetes Care,
August 2006). Pima Indians in Arizona have been shown by
DNA typing to be very closely related to Pima Indians in the
Sierra Madre mountains of Mexico. However, only 8.9 percent
of Mexican Pimas developed diabetes, compared to 38 percent
of those in the United States.
Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes, but both
populations were similarly obese. About eight percent of the Pima
men and 20 percent the Pima women suffered from obesity.
However, the Mexican Pimas were far more active than the
American ones and ate far fewer refined carbohydrates. This
study shows that diabetes is more an environmental disease
than just a genetic one. Your genes determine how you respond
to the environment. Since this study agrees with hundreds of
others, I recommend that everyone should exercise and limit
refined carbohydrates such as flour and sugar, whether or not
there is a family history of diabetes.
September 15, 2006