The Hispanic community in San Antonio (Texas) is facing a crisis due to the high incidence of diabetes in the city. Experts believe the prevalence of the disease among Latinos is due to a combination of factors such as lifestyle, diet, culture, genetics, socioeconomic barriers or access to health care. As mentioned, this condition affects men above all. the new York Times In a report published this Wednesday.
“We’re constantly amputating limbs,” explains podiatrist Michael Sobolewski. Texas Diabetes Institutemanaged by university health, For the New York newspaper. This doctor believes that the consequences of type 2 diabetes in San Antonio — which has a majority Mexican-American population — “are a huge problem.” He added, “I would dare to say that it is the world capital of the diabetic foot in terms of complications (of the disease).”
Texas has the highest rate of diabetes-related amputations in the country, about 52 per 100,000 hospital admissions, according to records cited by. the new York Times, According to the article published by this newspaper, when compared on the basis of gender, its prevalence is more in men than in women.
“The Hispanic community is the largest and growing population in the United States, and Hispanic individuals are at higher risk for diabetes. Many factors, such as educational, socioeconomic, cultural and linguistic barriers, lifestyle, access to health care, increased insulin resistance, and genetic susceptibility to obesity, lead to the development of diabetes in the Hispanic community. “A team of researchers explains Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center In a study published in 2023 International Journal of Molecular Sciences,
Diabetes is on the rise worldwide, and Latino communities in the United States are particularly affected, as the above media say. According to the latest data published by , 136 million people in the United States live with diabetes or prediabetes every day. National prevention program for this disease, The prevalence of this diagnosis is higher in the adult population American Indians and Alaska Natives (13.6%), followed by non-Hispanic blacks (12.1%), Hispanic-origin population (11.7%), non-Hispanic Asian population (9.1%), and non-Hispanic white adults (6.9%).
In addition to insulin resistance and the “genes” that cause the pancreas of Latinos and Native Americans to “produce insufficient insulin,” explains Dr. Ralph DeFronzo the new York Times San Antonio’s “Tex-Mex” cuisine – which is often rich in fatty oils and red meat, and includes products like flour tortillas and sweets rich in processed carbohydrates – can wreak havoc on the body.
Beyond these numbers and the prevalence of diabetes among “racial and ethnic minorities”, a team of emory university (Atlanta) points out that patients who come from these environments “are less likely to receive preventive care,” “such as hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing, annual cholesterol screening and retinal exams,” according to a study published in 2022. stated in. current diabetes report on complications of diabetes ethnic minorities in the united states,
76% of San Antonio’s population is overweight
Researchers say the origin of the disease is linked to “lifestyle factors”, such as an “unhealthy diet”, low physical exercise, stress or obesity. university health, The figures you quote the new York Times They report that 76% of the adult population in San Antonio is obese or overweight.
This disease has a direct impact on the society in San Antonio. “If you analyzed (the region’s) entire population, you would find that one in two people over the age of 40 has diabetes,” DeFronzo told New York media.
in 1999 Texas Diabetes Institute In the western part of the city, a Hispanic area, has fewer health resources than other more affluent areas of the municipality, as stated in the above newspaper. The place currently serves 80,000 people.
She says the institute has focused on “disproportionate” impacts in recent months the new York TimesDue to which this disease has been found in men and later also in children. Last year, hospitalizations among males under the age of 18 increased by 36%.
For Julius Hunter, coordinator of the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program in San Antonio, the incidence of this disease in men can be attributed to “culture,” he points to the aforementioned media. She believes that education focused on the male population, which focuses on resistance and ignoring lesions, has led them to not pay attention to the first signs of the disease. In fact, he says workshops and trainings on diabetes are almost always attended by women.