Diabetes and obesity in the Pima Indians: a cross-generational vicious cycle
1988
Pettitt, D.J. | Knowler, W.C.
The ancestors of the Pima Indians have subsisted in the southern Arizona desert by irrigation farming, hunting and gathering for at least 2000 years. During the past 40 to 50 years, they have experienced marked changes in lifestyle and a progressive increase in the incidence of obesity and of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The reasons for these changes, which are probably numerous, are unclear. As a group, the Pima Indians appear to have a strong genetic predisposition to diabetes, probably as a result of genetic selection. In addition, some families are more at risk than others, either as a result of a greater genetic load or from greater environmental stress. The products of pregnancies which were complicated by diabetes are at a particularly high risk of becoming obese and developing diabetes. Successive generations, because of genetic predisposition, environmental stress, and a greater number of diabetic pregnancies are at increasing risk.
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