Attention to leading cause of death
Research aims to promote awareness on diabetes
THE KZN Research and Innovation Sequencing Platform (Krisp) is leading the way in decoding the South African Indian Genome for Health Risk.
This was the topic at a business breakfast held by the research centre, which is based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and specialises in DNA research.
Professor Anesh Maniraj Singh, a board member at Krisp, said diabetes was one of the biggest killers of Indians, followed by heart disease.
The aim of Friday’s event, added Singh, was to raise awareness among business directors, who tend to suffer in these areas of health due to stress.
“But also from the alternative perspective of them being employers of employees, who are also affected.”
He said Krisp wanted to research how far back these diseases go in the Indian gene structure.
“We are not looking for a cure, but certainly at ways that we can better cope with and manage these health risks.”
Singh said Krisp was the fundraising arm of the university and through making this research project publically known, they hoped to get the community and business leaders aware and involved to invest in furthering the research.
Diabetes, heart disease – leading cause of death in Indian population:
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, a clinical infectious epidemiologist and an imminent scientist in South Africa, delivered the keynote address at the breakfast.
In an interview with POST, he spoke on the importance of Indians paying more attention to diabetes and heart disease.
“We know that both diabetes and heart disease are the leading causes of death in the Indian population. South African Indians are three times at greater risk than other population groups to be affected by diabetes. Adults with diabetes have a two to three-fold higher risk of getting a heart attack or a stroke.”
Karim, director of the Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in South Africa, said according to a study by the Human Sciences Research Council and the Medical Research Council, 61% of South African Indians over the age of 45 have pre-diabetes, and are more likely, with age, to develop Type 2 diabetes.
“In addition, diabetes and ischaemic (reduced blood flow) heart disease occur at least 10 years earlier in Indians than in other populations in South Africa – a staggering statistic.
“Research has shown that dietary patterns in favour of high consumption of polyunstaturated fatty acids, a low intake of fibre and sedentary lifestyles, which can be controlled with conscious lifestyle changes, decreases the risk of getting diabetes. South African Indians need to make simple lifestyle choices – eat healthy foods, increase physical activity and maintain a healthy body weight.”
He said heart disease and diabetes could be prevented and treated.
“If left untreated, diabetes can cause severe medical complications. Younger generations in the Indian population are affected by poor lifestyle choices and sluggish metabolism rates that increase the risk of diabetes. This affects the ability to function at an optimal level and together with obesity, can lead to medical complications.
“This leads to the inability to work effectively and to lead happy, healthy and productive lives. It is an impediment to success. Regular testing of blood sugar levels is imperative.” He said for decades medical research had contributed to the biological and behavioural understanding of diseases and disease patterns.
“Research underpins the prevention, treatment and cures that have been discovered for a range of diseases that enables populations to lead normal lives.
“Research is rigorous and requires tenacity and determination to pursue a study that can sometimes take five to seven years to complete. Without research, diseases cannot be treated, prevented or cured.”
Abdool Karim continued: “The South African media has played an important role, for example, in reporting on the research in Aids, measles and polio. When a news report is published on a research finding, it creates an awareness of the disease and an understanding that collecting research data is a lengthy and complex process.
“However, the public may be unaware that there is very limited research funding in South Africa.
“In the case of diabetes, studies have shown that there is a genetic factor that predisposes Indians in South Africa to diabetes.
“Researchers here at UKZN have acquired sophisticated equipment needed to undertake studies to understand why genes in South African Indians are causing a predisposition to these diseases.
“They need the support of individuals, businesses and corporates to undertake this new research, which I am optimistic will benefit future generations, especially those of Indian heritage, who are at highest risk of diabetes.”
Insights to diabetes:
Professor Ayesha Motala, head of the department of diabetes and endocrinology at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine at UKZN, offered insights to diabetes and heart disease that are common in all communities.
“I’ve been working with all communities and it’s the same story. Diabetes is not detected early enough, and once patients are aware they are diabetic, they are not compliant, especially with lifestyle modification. They definitely don’t do regular checks.
“If you are over 45 years, you should check yourself every three years. If you are under 45 and you have one of several of the risk factors, like being overweight, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or a strong family history with diabetes, you should have yourself checked out.
“But having the check-ups and taking medications does not mean the job is done.
“The major thing is lifestyle modification in terms of proper diet and exercise.”
Motala added that diabetes did not manifest its complications until years later and it was therefore vital to have regular checks.
She pointed out that while education on lifestyle, diet and exercise was already executed at schools and in communities, the situation would remain bleak until there was a major shift on two levels.
“We need to have major mindset changes on what a good, healthy lifestyle is and we need a major shift in government advocacy towards raising awareness.”
The genetic link:
Dr Veron Ramsuran, a group leader at Krisp, explained why the link between genetics research and health – in this case, diabetes and heart disease among the Indian community – was important.
“DNA is the basic building block of life. Segments of DNA make up genes that control our entire body. However, there are sometimes mutations (changes) that are found within the DNA that cause a person to get a disease. Understanding the genetics of individuals helps researchers in two ways.
“Firstly, the presence of specific mutations within individuals with a disease can serve as biomarkers. That is, if a person has a mutation, researchers can predict the risk of individuals acquiring the disease.
“Secondly, researchers can design therapeutic interventions focused on genetic mutations. Very little genetic information is available from South African Indians affected by diabetes and heart disease.
“Therefore, it is virtually impossible to create a genetic biomarker test to predict the risk of acquiring diabetes and heart disease within the South African Indian population, who have a three times greater risk than other race groups. It is, therefore, important to examine the genetics of South African Indians to develop population-specific biomarkers and therapeutic interventions.”
Ramsuran offered some insights explaining how looking into genetics can help in mapping a way forward towards better managing diabetes and heart disease.
“Genetic research has proven to be extremely useful in several diseases. One perfect example is displayed in breast cancer. Breast cancer genes are human genes that produce tumour suppressor proteins (proteins that prevent cancer formation).
“Mutations within these genes have been shown to predict cancer risk. Therefore, identifying if a female has these mutations can predict if she can get breast cancer.
“Similarly, examining the genetic information of South African Indians, who are affected with diabetes could provide a much needed genetic test for predicting diabetes.”