diabetic Asian...alarming

[seetharam annadana]

Source: Pacific News Service

"Medical professionals working with Asians are becoming alarmed by the
growing number of patients suffering from diabetes. The illness is
spreading rapidly in Asia, and the number of diabetics across the
continent may increase to 160 million by 2025. Diabetes is one of the
leading causes of death and disability in the United States, costing
more than $98 billion each year. It is the fifth-leading cause of deaths
among Asian Americans between the ages of 45 and 64.


Traditionally, residents of Viet Nam and other Southeast Asian countries have been mainly agrarian workers whose levels of occupational physical activity have been high. But with more people working in urban-based industrialized jobs, there has been an inevitable decline in physical activity. In the general population, one-third of individuals, both young and old, have diabetes and don't know it."