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Lower Frequency of Diabetes Among Hospitalized Negro than White Children: Theoretical Implications*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Michael J. Mac Donald*
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
*
The Elliot P. Joslin Research Laboratory, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Abstract

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A review of the case histories of 471 diabetic children admitted to a children's hospital during the decade 1960 to 1970 showed that the proportion of diabetics among hospitalized Negro children was significantly lower than that among white children (3.8 Negro vs. 10.7 white per 1000 admissions same ethnic group, P < 0.005). However, the proportion of mild diabetes, characterized by absence of ketosis and no insulin requirement, was higher among Negro (18%) than among white diabetic children (0.5%). These differences could not be explained by differences in environmental factors considered. It is suggested that genetic factors may account for a substantial part of this Negro-white difference.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1975

Footnotes

*

This work was supported in part by the Ranken-Jorden Foundation for the Crippling Diseases of Childhood and by USPHS Training Grant GM 1151. First submitted in November 1973.

References

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