Summary

While data is limited on the incidence of diabetes among minorities, the disease seems to be more prevalent among American Indians, blacks, and Hispanics than among whites. Certain environmental and lifestyle factors appear to trigger diabetes in genetically susceptible individuals, although it is unclear whether the natural history of the disease is the same or different across different population groups--a major shortcoming in existing research. Slightly more than half of all funds for diabetes research are targeted to minorities, but only a tiny fraction of all diabetes funding goes to studying prevention/behavioral and clinical research. Further, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) database cannot be used to determine the actual level of resources devoted to minority diabetes, and NIH makes no effort to collect information on the race of people donating cells for basic research.