Recent results by SEARCH have found that the rates of type 1 diabetes in Asian and Pacific Island children living in the United States are three times higher than those living in Japan, Singapore, Korea, Thailand and other Asian countries.
The rates of type 2 diabetes are also higher in Asian and Pacific Island adolescents compared with the Caucasian population and with other Asian countries.
Diabetes type 1 is a disease of the immune system connected to the pancreas, where patients have to receive regular insulin injections in order to go on living, while the type 2 develops due to obesity and inactivity, where the body becomes resistant to insulin.
Childhood diabetes can cause complications such as kidney and heart failure as well as blindness and must be closely monitored.
These researchers are aimed at informing the population as to the causes and risks of the two types of diabetes.
Nowadays the rate of type 1 diabetes is at its highest amongst non-Hispanic white adolescents living in the United States compared to those in Europe, and while the type 2 is not as common, it is still higher as opposed to Europe.
While type 1 diabetes is more common in Hispanic American people, the Navajo population is at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
