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Immigrants from the Middle‐East have a different form of Type 2 diabetes compared with Swedish patients
Author(s) -
Glans F.,
Elgzyri T.,
Shaat N.,
Lindholm E.,
Apelqvist J.,
Groop L.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
diabetic medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.474
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1464-5491
pISSN - 0742-3071
DOI - 10.1111/j.1464-5491.2007.02366.x
Subject(s) - medicine , immigration , diabetes mellitus , middle east , type 2 diabetes , family history , demography , type 2 diabetes mellitus , pediatrics , gerontology , endocrinology , archaeology , sociology , political science , law , history
Aims To compare the clinical characteristics of Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) between immigrants from the Middle‐East and Swedish patients. Methods The study group included 450 consecutive patients with T2DM, 379 Swedish‐born aged 61 ± 12 years and 71 patients originally from the Middle‐East aged 50 ± 11 years from the diabetes clinic of Malmo University Hospital. Results Onset of diabetes had occurred 12 years earlier in the Middle‐East immigrants compared with the Swedish‐born patients (43 ± 10 vs. 55 ± 12 years, P < 0.001). Immigrants had lower fasting serum C‐peptide [0.7 (0.1–2.6) vs. 0.9 (0.1–4.0) nmol/l, P = 0.013], lower homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)‐β[1.7 (0.1–9.1) vs. 2.7 (0.1–59.0), P = 0.010], lower HOMA‐IR [0.4 (0.02–1.19) vs. 0.4 (0.01–2.8), P = 0.005] than the Swedish group. A first‐degree family history of diabetes was reported in 61% of immigrants, compared with 47% of Swedish‐born ( P = 0.022). Conclusions Immigrants from the Middle‐East have an earlier onset, stronger family history and more rapid decline of pancreatic B‐cell function than Swedish patients, suggesting that they have a different form of T2DM compared with Swedish patients.