Diabetes and related metabolic risk factors among Arab Americans

To estimate the incidence of noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and associated metabolic abnormalities such as impaired glucose tolerance, increased blood pressure, hyperinsulinemia, and obesity in the Arab-American community in the Detroit metropolitan area.

Subjects were selected randomly from a computer-generated list provided by the Arab-American Center for Economic and Social Services. Laboratory studies included a 2-hour, 75-g oral glucose tolerance test with glucose, insulin, and C-peptide determinations.

Of the 105 volunteers studied, 57 were women and 48 were men. Mean +/- SD age was 46.0 +/- 13.0 years. Body mass index was 30.4 +/- 6.8 kg/m2, with 68% of subjects having a body mass index of 27 kg/m2 or more. Of the study participants, 33% had NIDDM, 8.6% had impaired glucose tolerance, and 58% had normal glucose tolerance. Subjects with diabetes, compared with subjects who had normal glucose tolerance, exhibited increased fasting insulin (98 +/- 69 vs 55 +/- 31 pmol/L; p = 0.00056); higher cholesterol (6.03 +/- 1.03 vs 5.09 +/- 1.22 mmol/L; p = 0.00073); marginally lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.98 +/- 0.21 vs 1.14 +/- 0.31 mmol/L; p = 0.054); higher triglycerides (7.84 +/- 5.79 vs 3.83 +/- 2.15 mmol/L; p = 0.00002); and higher diastolic (83.7 +/- 8.9 vs 78.3 +/- 8.0 mm Hg; p = 0.014) as well as systolic (132.5 +/- 16.0 vs 119.0 +/- 10.6 mm Hg; p = 0.00001) blood pressures

This pilot study demonstrates that diabetes may be a frequent medical problem in the Arab-American community. A well-designed epidemiologic study is warranted to validate these results and to elucidate the underlying mechanisms responsible for these findings.