The study talking of the benefits of diet for reversing type 2 diabetes may be fresh in our memory. Now, Imperial College London scientists have apparently spotted 6 new genetic variants linked to type-2 diabetes among people from South Asia.
These findings are deemed to provide the scientists with new references to locate diagnostic markers and drug targets for prohibiting this condition. Individuals from South Asia apparently face a quadrupled chance of developing type 2 diabetes than their European counterparts. It is supposedly a major risk variable for heart disease and stroke too.
Dr John Chambers, the senior author of the study, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, elaborated, “Type 2 diabetes is more common in South Asian populations than any other ethnic group, but the reason for this increased risk is unclear. Although lifestyle factors such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and obesity are important causes of diabetes in South Asians, these are only part of the explanation. Genetic factors have been widely considered to play a role in the increased risk of type 2 diabetes in Asians, but to date have not been systematically explored in this population.”
The investigators analyzed the DNA of 18,731 persons with type 2 diabetes and 39,856 in the healthy control group. The genomes were examined to recognize the places where there were more chances of variation among those with diabetes. As per the outcomes, 6 positions with differences of a single letter in the genetic code were linked to type 2 diabetes. This implicated that ambient genes may also participate in the disease. This analysis essentially reveals genes outlining diabetes amidst people from South Asia that includes countries like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The findings are published in Nature Genetics.