In a study conducted by Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) on 4000 people consisting of a mix of diabetics and non diabetics, it was found that lack of a protein hormone viz ‘adiponectin’ could be the cause of their disease. It was further found that this adds to the risk of hypertension and obesity.
Adiponectin, a hormone produced by fat cells keeps obesity, hypertension and diabetes by regulating the glucose level in the body and keeping metabolic system under control. While most of the hormones produced by fat cells is considered to be harmful, this is the only hormone the production of which is ported to be beneficial because of its ability to control diabetes.
The low level of this hormone in Indians is traced to a unique gene variation. Clinically known as ‘Asian Indian Phenotype’ Asian Indians including Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Srilankans have clinical and biochemical characteristics that place a major role in maintaining insulin levels.
The above theory gets strengthened by the results of another study conducted by MDRF in partnership with Oxford Brookely in 2007. For this study, 34 Europeans and 11 Indians were given identical food and when they were tested for glucose, it was found that its values for Indians had gone up by 14.3 mg higher than their counterparts. This demonstrated the fact that ‘Lifestyle’ is not the only variant for diabetes in India.
The results are significant in view of ever increasing incidence of this disease. As per current statistics, nearly 4 crore Indians are said to be suffering from this which is expected to increase to 7 crores in 2025.
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