High Prevalence of Autoimmune Diabetes and Poor Glycaemic Control among Adults in Madagascar: A Brief Report from a Humanitarian Health Campaign in Ambanja
Madagascar is a geographically isolated country considered a biodiversity hotspot with unique genomics. Both the low-income and the geographical isolation represent risk factors for the development of diabetes. During a humanitarian health campaign conducted in Ambanja, a rural city in the northern...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2017-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Diabetes Research |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/3860674 |
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| Summary: | Madagascar is a geographically isolated country considered a biodiversity hotspot with unique genomics. Both the low-income and the geographical isolation represent risk factors for the development of diabetes. During a humanitarian health campaign conducted in Ambanja, a rural city in the northern part of Madagascar, we identified 42 adult subjects with diabetes and compared their features to 24 randomly enrolled healthy controls. 42.9% (n=18) of diabetic subjects showed HbA1c values ≥ 9.0%. Unexpectedly, waist circumference and BMI were similar in people with diabetes and controls. Different from the healthy controls, diabetic subjects showed a low prevalence of obesity (5.7% versus 30%, p=0.02). Accordingly, we found a high prevalence of autoimmune diabetes as 12% of people with diabetes showed positivity for the autoantibody against glutamic acid decarboxylase. Diabetic subjects with positive autoantibody had higher HbA1c values (11.3 ± 4.1% versus 8.3 ± 2.6%, p=0.03) compared to diabetic subjects with negative autoantibody. In conclusion, here we describe the presence of diabetes and its features in a rural area of Northern Madagascar, documenting poor glycaemic control and a high prevalence of autoimmune diabetes. These data highlight that the diabetes epidemic involves every corner of the world possibly with different patterns and features. |
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| ISSN: | 2314-6745 2314-6753 |