Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) in Asians in the UK

South Asian subjects in the United Kingdom have a substantially increased risk of both diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The excess risk of cardiovascular disease is not explained by risk factors such as smoking, blood pressure or dyslipidaemia. It has been proposed that the insulin resistance syndrome, perhaps consequent upon central obesity, may underlie the risk of both glucose intolerance and cardiovascular disease. In non-diabetic south Asian subjects we have found higher concentrations of insulin and of proinsulin-like molecules, higher blood pressure, and lower concentrations of high density lipoprotein cholesterol, but no elevation of activity of plasminogen activator inhibitor. Newly diagnosed diabetic subjects from the south Asian population are younger and thinner than newly diagnosed europid subjects, but are more centrally obese and hyperinsulinaemic. It is possible that the coexistence of diabetes and cardiovascular disease represents the consequence of a common antecedent.