Diabetes in South Asians: is the phenotype different?

Abstract

South Asia forms one of the epicenters of the global diabetes epidemic. According to estimates released by the International Diabetes Federation, more than 70 million individuals in the region have diabetes (1). Over the past couple of decades, there has been a worrying increase in the prevalence rates of diabetes in the region. The earliest multicenter studies on the prevalence of diabetes in India in the early 1970s showed rates of around 2% in urban areas and 1% in rural areas (2).