Type 2 Diabetes Among Aboriginal People

Running head: FIRST PEOPLE’S HEALTH 1
First people’s health
Students Name
Institutional Affiliation

FIRST PEOPLE’S HEALTH 2
Introduction
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition resulting from insulin deficiency or when the
peripheral tissues are resistant to Insulin. The complications associated with the disease include
high risk of stroke or heart attack, kidney disease, eye disease, nerve damage and death. Type 2
diabetes is a growing public health challenge worldwide. The disease has been declared an
epidemic in Australia and globally. The condition is more prevalent among the indigenous
people and those from low socio-economic status backgrounds.
The Aboriginal and Torres Islander people have high cases of diabetes type 2, and their
risk of acquiring the diseases is thrice that of the non-indigenous Australians. The risk of
developing gestational diabetes among Aboriginal women is also twice that of the non-
indigenous Australians. Research also indicates that the risk of Aboriginal children developing
type 2 diabetes is eight times more than that of the non-indigenous children. The mortality rate of
the diseases is also high among the Aboriginal people as research shows that their risk of dying
from the disease is six times more than that of the non-indigenous people. The reason I have
chosen Diabetes type 2 among the Aboriginal people is because of the high prevalence of the
disease and the high mortality of the disease among the population. In 2011, diabetes type 2
accounted for 4.1 of the population disease burden. In 2011 to 2015, 8% of the Aboriginal people
deaths were as a result of type 2 diabetes (Burrow 2016).
Key factor
The demographic factors that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes among the Aboriginal
people are Age, gender, genetics and level of education. The prevalence of diabetes among the
indigenous people is more prevalent among adults aged 45 and above. The prevalence is also
high among the adolescents, children and the youths (Zheng, Ley and Hu 2018, p.88). A research

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conducted to ascertain the incidence rate of type 2 diabetes among the different age groups of the
Aboriginal people shows that the incidence rate of the indigenous people aged 15 to 24 years was
9.8%. The incidence rate among those aged 25 to 34 was 21.8%, 35 to 54 was 37.4% and 55
years and above was 47.6%. This shows that the risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases
with an increase in age among the Aboriginal people (Islam and Fitzgerald 2016, p.30).
The risk of diabetes among the Aboriginal people is high among the seniors aged 45
years and above because they exercise less, lose muscle mass and gain excess weight leading to
obesity (Azzopardi et al. 2018, pp.766-782). The increased prevalence among children and
young adults is also attributed to lack of physical activity and poor healthy habits among the
aboriginal people leading to obesity (Titmuss 2019). Research indicates that the risk of becoming
obese among the senior Aboriginal people is higher which predisposes them to conditions such
as Type 2 diabetes as compared to the younger people. 80% of the aboriginal people are
overweight, and 60% of them are suffering from type 2 diabetes (Sushames, van and Gebel
2016, p.129).
Obesity among these seniors, children and young adults caused type 2 diabetes in two
main ways. Firstly, it affects the inflammatory response due to the accumulation of excess
abdominal fat which stimulates the release of pro-inflammatory chemicals from the fat cells. The
pro-inflammatory chemicals result in the body becoming less sensitive to the insulin it produces
by affecting the ability of the responsive cells to respond to insulin. Secondly, obesity disrupts
fat metabolism by stimulating changes in an individual's metabolism. These changes trigger the
fat tissue to produce fat molecules into one's blood which then affect the insulin-responsive cells
and hence leading to a decrease in insulin sensitivity (Fan and Wang 2018).

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There are differences between the prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes among the
male and female genders of the aboriginal people. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes is higher
among females than males. Research indicates that the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes
among Aboriginal females is two times that of the Aboriginal men. This is attributed to the fact
that indigenous females are more obese compared to men. In 2015, the rates of obesity among
the Aboriginal men and women were 34% and 40% respectively. The risk of the obese
Aboriginal people developing type 2 diabetes is seven times more than that of the normal weight
women. This shows that obesity among the indigenous women has a strong relationship with
increased prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes (Kautzky-Willer, Harreiter and Pacini
2016, pp.278-316).
The increase in the prevalence and incidence of type 2 diabetes among Aboriginal people
can be attributed to genetics. 73% of the aboriginal people with type 2 diabetes have moderate to
high genetic risk factors. The fact that type 2 diabetes can be genetic means that if the Aboriginal
mother and father carry the gene, the Aboriginal child is more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.
The fact that the aboriginal people have poor health-seeking behaviour makes it difficult to
identify and offer timely intervention for type 2 diabetes and hence leading to high mortality
rates (Chow and Chan 2017, pp.331-332).
The level of education among the aboriginal people affects the prevalence and incidence
of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Research indicates that the major risk factors of type 2 diabetes are
Genetics and obesity. The more educated people tend to be more aware of the consequences of
poor health habits, and hence they practice good health behaviours. The prevalence and
incidence of type 2 diabetes among the educated Aboriginal people are lower than that of the less
educated. This is because the well-educated indigenous people understand the effects of obesity