HOW MANY ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICANS HAVE DIABETES?
Although data on the number of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans who have diabetes are limited, studies show that type 2 diabetes is a growing problem among some groups within this population. For example, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes is 2 to 3 times higher among Japanese Americans living in Seattle compared with non-Hispanic whites. The prevalence is 2.5 times higher among Native Hawaiians compared to white residents of Hawaii. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DIABETES? Type 1 diabetes, which used to be called juvenile diabetes, results when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys its own insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. People with type 1 diabetes need daily injections of insulin to live. A small number of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans have type 1 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, which used to be called adult-onset diabetes, occurs when the body doesn’t makes enough insulin or cannot use the insulin it makes effectively. This form of diabetes usually develo
