diabetescarelive.info

• About 15 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives who receive care from the Indian Health Service have diabetes, mostly type 2 diabetes. Rates vary markedly among tribes.
• On average, American Indians and Alaska Natives are 2.6 times as likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites of a similar age.
• Type 1 diabetes in American Indian and Alaska Native youth is relatively rare; however, recent reports highlight an increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents.
• American Indians and Alaska Natives have genetic, medical, and lifestyle risk factors for type 2 diabetes.
• American Indians and Alaska Natives with diabetes have a high incidence of diabetes complications such as eye and kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and lower extremity amputations.
• Cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death in American Indians, and diabetes is a high contributing risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

source:

http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/americanindian/index.htm