Skip to main content

Westernisation, insulin resistance and diabetes in Australian aborigines.

Westernisation, insulin resistance and diabetes in...[Med J Aust. 1991] - PubMed Result

Westernisation, insulin resistance and diabetes in Australian aborigines.

O'Dea K.

Department of Human Nutrition, Deakin University, Geelong, Vic.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the published data on the impact of westernisation on obesity, non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), and coronary heart disease (CHD) in Australian Aborigines. DATA SOURCES: Fifty-five articles from Australian and international sources (primarily peer-reviewed journals) are cited. STUDY SELECTION: Twenty-eight reports providing data on the diet, lifestyle, health and "lifestyle diseases" of Australian Aborigines before and after westernisation are included in this review. A further 27 articles on obesity, NIDDM, CHD, insulin resistance, and the impact of diet and exercise were used to help interpret the Aboriginal data. DATA EXTRACTION: Information on dietary composition, anthropometry, disease and risk factor prevalence, and relevant biochemical measurements were used for comparative and interpretive purposes. DATA SYNTHESIS: The traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle of Australian Aborigines, characterised by high physical activity and a diet of low energy density (low fat, high fibre), promoted the maintenance of a very lean body weight and minimised insulin resistance. In contrast, for most Aborigines a Western lifestyle is characterised by reduced physical activity and an energy-dense diet (high in refined carbohydrate and fat) which promotes obesity and maximises insulin resistance. When they make the transition from their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a westernised lifestyle, Aborigines develop high prevalence rates for obesity (with an android pattern of fat distribution), non-insulin dependent diabetes, impaired glucose tolerance, hypertriglyceridaemia, hypertension and hyperinsulinaemia. The striking improvements in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in diabetic and non-diabetic Aborigines after a temporary reversion to a traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle highlight the potentially reversible nature of the detrimental effects of lifestyle change, particularly in young people who have not yet developed diabetes. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that insulin resistance was important to the survival of Aborigines as hunter-gatherers, but is also the underlying metabolic characteristic predisposing them to obesity, NIDDM and CHD after westernisation. Intervention strategies to prevent chronic diseases related to insulin resistance should be directed at lifestyle modification. To be effective such programmes will have to be developed and implemented at the community level.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Could Narcolepsy be caused by gluten? :: Kitchen Table Hypothesis

Kitchen Table Hypothesis from www.zombieinstitute.net - Heidi's new site It's commonly known that a severe allergy to peanuts can cause death within minutes. What if there were an allergy that were delayed for hours and caused people to fall asleep instead? That is what I believe is happening in people with Narcolepsy. Celiac disease is an allergy to gliadin, a specific gluten protein found in grains such as wheat, barley and rye. In celiac disease the IgA antigliadin antibody is produced after ingestion of gluten. It attacks the gluten, but also mistakenly binds to and creates an immune reaction in the cells of the small intestine causing severe damage. There is another form of gluten intolerance, Dermatitis Herpetiformis, in which the IgA antigliadin bind to proteins in the skin, causing blisters, itching and pain. This can occur without any signs of intestinal damage. Non-celiac gluten sensitivity is a similar autoimmune reaction to gliadin, however it usually involves the...
19 comments
Read more

Insulin Resistance- cause of ADD, diabetes, narcolepsy, etc etc

Insulin Resistance Insulin Resistance Have you been diagnosed with clinical depression? Heart disease? Type II, or adult, diabetes? Narcolepsy? Are you, or do you think you might be, an alcoholic? Do you gain weight around your middle in spite of faithfully dieting? Are you unable to lose weight? Does your child have ADHD? If you have any one of these symptoms, I wrote this article for you. Believe it or not, the same thing can cause all of the above symptoms. I am not a medical professional. I am not a nutritionist. The conclusions I have drawn from my own experience and observations are not rocket science. A diagnosis of clinical depression is as ordinary as the common cold today. Prescriptions for Prozac, Zoloft, Wellbutrin, etc., are written every day. Genuine clinical depression is a very serious condition caused by serotonin levels in the brain. I am not certain, however, that every diagnosis of depression is the real thing. My guess is that about 10 percent of the people taking ...
5 comments
Read more

BBC NEWS | Technology | The ethical dilemmas of robotics

BBC NEWS | Technology | The ethical dilemmas of robotics If robots can feel pain, should they be granted certain rights? If robots develop emotions, as some experts think they will, should they be allowed to marry humans? Should they be allowed to own property? These questions might sound far-fetched, but debates over animal rights would have seemed equally far-fetched to many people just a few decades ago. Now, however, such questions are part of mainstream public debate. And the technology is progressing so fast that it is probably wise to start addressing the issues now. One area of robotics that raises some difficult ethical questions, and which is already developing rapidly, is the field of emotional robotics. More pressing moral questions are already being raised by the increasing use of robots in the military This is the attempt to endow robots with the ability to recognise human expressions of emotion, and to engage in behaviour that humans readily perceive as emotional. Huma...
Post a Comment
Read more