Australia… Aborigine… Children… Discovery Health Has It All!

Taking you back to the post I wrote last Saturday about the diabetes explosion occurring in Australia, I happened to come across a program on the Discovery Health channel about diabetes. Guess what the subject matter was? You guessed it- diabetes and the Aborigine people.

The series is called Discovery Health- CME and it is running on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 9AM, at least the last few weeks it has around my neck of the woods (East coast). Last weekend they discussed the “thrifty gene”and how it is contributing to a huge increase in diabetes among the Aborigine people in Australia.

Through history this group of people among the outskirts and brush of Australia have had to be very frugal and make a meal stretch for days until the next meal was available. Enter- “thrifty gene”. Their bodies learned (through evolution) to cherish the nutrients inside their bodies and slow their metabolisms down- way down!

I thought that little tidbit was very interesting. Now moving forward to this morning… they were speaking about insulin resistance among type 2 diabetics. This week was presented in a round table type discussion among pediatricians, endocrinologists and a psychologist. It was geared towards the prevalence of this resistance in young people. Scary!!

Anyway, if you get a chance and it plays in your area, check it out. If nothing else, very interesting. There is an area on the Discovery Health site that you can set a reminder to watch the show.