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The Combined Burden of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease in Indigenous Australians

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Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease are significant contributors to the 17-year disparity in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. These three conditions are prevalent from a young age in Indigenous Australians and clearly contribute to their premature mortality. Risk factors that both exacerbate and promote these conditions include central obesity, dyslipidemia, cigarette smoking, albuminuria, inflammation, and poor socio-economic status. Although rates of screening for T2DM are higher in Indigenous Australians than in non-Indigenous Australians, gaps in clinical management of both T2DM and cardiovascular disease exist. To enhance survival and quality of life, prevention strategies are required at a population level and from a young age in Indigenous Australians.

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Acknowledgments

LMB is supported by NHMRC #605837 and the Centre of Clinical Research Excellence in Clinical Science in Diabetes, University of Melbourne. The author wished to thank Professor Kerin O’Dea for comments on this manuscript.

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Louise Maple-Brown reports no potential conflict of interest relevant to this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Menzies School of Health Research, Charles Darwin University, PO Box 41096, Casuarina, NT, 0811, Australia

    Louise J. Maple-Brown

  2. Division of Medicine, Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Australia

    Louise J. Maple-Brown

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  1. Louise J. Maple-Brown
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Correspondence to Louise J. Maple-Brown.

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Maple-Brown, L.J. The Combined Burden of Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease in Indigenous Australians. Curr Cardiovasc Risk Rep 5, 215–222 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12170-011-0165-5

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