By
Michael Okorie
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Grant will focus on type-two diabetes in the U.S.-Mexico
The UA College of Public Health has been awarded a $1.7 million federal grant to study type-two diabetes in border communities.
The grant, which the UA received on Jan. 23, will be used to aid in the prevention and evaluation of the prevalence of diabetes among specific ethnic groups.
The project will develop and test model community-based programs that reduce the devastating impact of this disease.
Dr. Carlos Campbell, interim director of the UA College of Public Health, is credited for bringing this grant to UA.
"It is an important grant that will not only study the implications of diabetes in border communities but will present viable solutions," Campbell said.
University of Arizona researchers such as Campbell say that the U.S.-Mexico border is a rapidly changing binational-multicultural group of interrelated communities - and the public health college, in collaboration with other colleges at the UA, have specifically identified communities on the U.S.-Mexico border to study.
The majority of these communities are in Arizona and Texas, and are predominantly populated by American Indians and Mexican nationals. UA rural health officials have found that both of these ethnic groups are diagnosed with type-two diabetes - which, unlike the type-one form, is contracted after birth - at a rate two to three times greater than their Caucasian counterparts in similar regions.
The goal of this grant will be to determine what factors cause these disparities, Campbell said.
He also emphasized the need for the grant to aid in curtailing the rate at which type-two diabetes is diagnosed in these regions.
George Humphrey, public information director for the Health Sciences Center, noted the importance of statistics which illustrate the disparities between Caucasians and Hispanics.
From 1985-95 in Arizona, the rate of type-two diabetes was 20.6 per 100,000 for Hispanics, compared to 9.5 per 100,000 for Caucasians.
Median levels of insulin and glucose in Hispanic third graders in border communities are often significantly higher than those of Caucasian children living in similar regions.
The primary risk factors related to diabetes are obesity, diet, physical activity, family history, and age. Some of the factors responsible for the increased risk of type-two diabetes - specifically among Mexican nationals and American Indians - are demonstrated in early childhood.
The UA Rural Health office and the College of Medicine and Cooperative Extensions at the UA College of Agriculture are also participating in this research.
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Additional information can be found at http://www.diabetes.org.
