Ethnic/Race Diversity and Diabetic Kidney Disease.

Vasantha Muthuppalaniappan,Muhammad Yaqoob

doi:10.3390/jcm4081561

Abstract

Ethnicity and race are often used interchangeably in the literature. However, the traditional definition of race and ethnicity is related to biological (bone structure and skin, hair, or eye color) and sociological factors (nationality, regional culture, ancestry, and language) respectively. Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a huge global public health problem. As the number of individuals with Type 2 DM grows, the prevalence of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), which is one of the most serious complications, is expected to rise sharply. Many ethnic and racial groups have a greater risk of developing DM and its associated macro and micro-vascular complications.

Highlights

Even though ethnicity and race are often used interchangeably in medical literature there are clear differences in the traditional definitions of these two words
On the contrary race refers to groups of population with different physical characteristics, which usually result from genetic ancestry
More importantly this study identified that patient with proteinuria and those of South Asian and Black ethnicity/race are high-risk and might benefit from additional monitoring in a specialist clinic

Summary

Introduction

Even though ethnicity and race are often used interchangeably in medical literature there are clear differences in the traditional definitions of these two words. The prevalence of DM is much higher among Black and South Asian populations in comparison to Whites. Mortality is 3.5 times higher in South Asian and Black populations with DKD compared to Whites in England and Wales [3]. South Asians and Blacks with DM are more likely to develop DKD and have a faster rate of progression towards ESRD than their White counterparts [4,5]. CKD stage 3 was more prevalent in Whites compared to South Asians and Blacks [9]. The severity of CKD stages 4 and 5 was associated with Black and South Asian ethnicity compared to Whites [9]. Significant disparities existed between the major ethnic and racial groups in both disease prevalence and management in terms of achieved targets recommended in guidelines, which may in part explain these differences. In the UK across all patients with DKD may paradoxically disadvantage subgroups that might benefit from a more personalized approach

Effect of Ethnicity and Race in the Community

Conclusions