Posted on 02/28/2008 3:15:30 PM PST by blam
Overweight Hispanic Children Shown To Have Vascular Inflammation
ScienceDaily (Feb. 28, 2008) — Overweight Hispanic children with normal blood glucose (sugar) levels showed elevated markers for blood vessel inflammation that may predispose them to developing both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, says a new study led by researchers from the Joslin Diabetes Center.
The study, published in the March issue of Diabetes Care, is the first to focus on Hispanic children, already known to be at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes as a result of both genetic and lifestyle factors.
"Our findings suggest that these children are not only at risk for type 2 diabetes, but also for cardiovascular disease," said Dr. A. Enrique Caballero, lead investigator.
The study looked at 38 Hispanic children and adolescents, ages 10 through 18. Twenty-one were obese but with normal blood glucose levels, so they had not yet developed diabetes. The rest were considered lean. As a group, the obese subjects had significantly higher percentages of body fat than the lean group and were already showing signs of insulin resistance, meaning the insulin that their bodies produce is not working well and as a consequence their pancreases were being forced to work harder to produce more insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels.
Overall, the obese group exhibited increased blood markers for subclinical or asymptomatic inflammation of the inner layer of blood vessels. "They are already exhibiting problems with circulation," said Caballero, Director of the Latino Diabetes Initiative, Clinical Investigator, Staff Endocrinologist and Director, Medical Affairs, Professional Education at Joslin Diabetes Center, as well as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "There is an inflammatory process going on in the vessels."
Such problems suggest these children may be at increased risk of developing cardiovascular problems at a young age, he said.
Subclinical vascular inflammation is a key element in the development of cardiovascular disease and is closely associated with insulin resistance. It also predicts the development of type 2 diabetes.
Earlier studies in overweight or obese children and adolescents showed similar vascular abnormalities, but were conducted primarily in non-Hispanic children.
Caballero wanted to study Hispanic children because they had not previously been studied and because they are a high-risk population for type 2 diabetes.
"We have found that overweight Hispanic children and adolescents have elevated markers of endothelial dysfunction and vascular inflammation closely related to excess body fat and increased insulin resistance," the paper concluded. "This. . . may increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, further emphasizing the need for obesity prevention strategies."
Caballero said such strategies must be culturally appropriate.
"Even if these abnormalities may not be that different than those in Caucasian children, the strategies to prevent heart disease and diabetes need to be culturally oriented,'' he said. "They need to be tailored to the population."
Caballero stressed that the findings do not mean that such children will definitely develop type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular problems, but said the idea is to step in early to make sure they don't.
"The problem is serious enough to warrant attention and a prevention strategy," he said.
The research was funded by a grant from Sanofi Aventis and a National Institutes of Health grant for general clinical research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
In addition to Dr. Caballero, other researchers participating in the study included: Dr. Ludivina Robles-Osorio, Valeria Montagnani, RN, Dr. Geetha Soodini, Dr. Sriurai Porramatikul, Dr. Osama Hamdy and Dr. Edward S. Horton from the Joslin and Kelb Bousquet-Santos and Dr. Antonio C.L. Nobrega from Fluminense Federal University in Brazil.
Adapted from materials provided by Joslin Diabetes Center, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Jeez, at least someone out there can get Hispanic kids to finish their dinner. Any advice for my wife? ; )
This is just plain racist.
Here in Houston one in three Hispanic kids is pre-diabetic by age 12. The cause is very simple: vitamin d deficiency causes calcium deficiency, causes extra iron absorption, causes fat cell inflamation, causes adiponectin deficiency, causes saturation of muscles with fatty acids, causes slower uptake of glucose into muscles, causes higher glucose and insulin balances, causes early vascular damage.
ken in houston
Did you sleep at a Holiday Inn last night?
:)
Lard in tamales.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050430/food.asp
Janet Raloff
Second of a three-part series on the sunshine vitamin
Our skin evolved to create vitamin D when it’s exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays. So, when most of the world’s population lived in or near equatorial regions, people had no shortfall of the nutrient, with their bodies making from 10,000 to 20,000 international units (IUs) of this vitamin each day.
However, over the millennia, more and more people moved to high latitudes, where up to half the year, solar-UV exposure isn’t enough to fuel vitamin D production in skin.
It also can be bad for health, a host of studies has recently indicated. For decades, vitamin D was appreciated largely for its role in boosting the absorption of calcium, important for bone health. However, over the past decade and especially the past 5 years, research has linked a broad range of additional benefits to having ample vitamin D. It’s shown that the nutrient fights cancers and diabetes, is the pivotal feedstock for a hormone that protects muscle, and inhibits autoimmune disorders from multiple sclerosis and lupus to inflammatory bowel disease (SN: 10/9/04, p. 232).
So moving north is killing these poor kids? Why, this must be stopped!
“Hispanic” is not a race. No idea what point you are trying to make.
Kind of the other way around. What you have to do is subject them to extreme deprivation ~ no sugars, low starch, little meat ~ make them overexercise ~ , and they will AVOID the quite normal condition called Type II diabetes which will happen to everybody with the genes to make it happen otherwise.
uneducated and unhealthy, great
Yeah, I know that. As to my point, I was being sarcastic and thought it obvious I didn't need a tag.
I kind of like to know where the "/sarc" ought to be thought of before making a response. Once the campaign season is over and the Least Unliked has become President, I'll be quicker to notice your intentions.
and guess who gets to pay for it all
Great, we’ll be paying for their bypass surgeries by the time they’re pushing 30.
So, why are they deficient in D? Don't they drink the same milk as other kids?
McDonald’s?
I mean, they DID get their logo in the picture and all....
Not the story, but a few of the posts so far...
you mean the fat mexican mowing my lawn is not really saving me money
Gee...I never would have guessed!
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