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At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

The effect of westernization on native populations. Studies on a Micronesian community with a high diabetes prevalence.

A diabetes prevalence study in 1975 on an isolated urbanized Central Pacific island (Nauru) showed rates comparable to the American Pima Indians--the highest yet recorded in the world literature. This paper reports the results of a follow-up study and the high prevalence has been confirmed. In this survey of 417 people aged ten years and over, 9.8% were known diabetics. With a plasma glucose of 160 mg/100 ml or over at two hours after a 75 gram oral glucose load as the criterion of diagnosis, , diabetes was detected in a further 19.2%, making a total diabetic population of 29% in the population studied. The prevalence of diabetes was 44% in people aged 20 years and over. A further 7% had borderline diabetes on the basis of a two-hour plasma glucose of 140--159 mg/100 ml. Parity did not appear to be a causative factor in relation to the high diabetes prevalence. However, obesity is common in this community and is more marked than that seen in other Pacific or Caucasian communities. The high prevalence of diabetes in this population appears to be related to the inter-action of environmental factors, such as obesity, with a diabetic genotype. The results confirm the possible detrimental effects of westernization on native populations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

High prevalence of hyperuricaemia and gout in an urbanised Micronesian population.

The prevalence of hyperuricaemia and gout was investigated in the Micronesian inhabitants of the highly urbanised central Pacific island of Nauru. Sixty-four per cent of men and 60% of women aged 20 years and over had hyperuricaemia--the highest prevalence rates yet reported for a population. The hyperuricaemia in men was accompanied by a high prevalence of clinical gout (6.9%). While the hyperuricaemia is probably genetic, the high prevalence of gout may be related to the environmental change from the traditional island style of living to one of almost complete Westernisation.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

The politics of prohibition on Namoluk Atoll.

The drinking patterns and the attempt to institute prohibition during 1969-71 on Namoluk Atoll, in the Eastern Caroline Islands, are described. The question of prohibition became a symbol of an intergenerational struggle for political power, which was eventually won by the younger antiprohibitionists.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Bimodality of fasting and two-hour glucose tolerance distributions in a Micronesian population.

While frequency distributions of glucose concentrations in Caucasian populations are unimodal, bimodality has been described in the Pima Indians, a population with an extremely high prevalence of diabetes. Venous plasma glucose concentrations at fasting and after a 75-gm. oral glucose load were determined in 596 Nauruans, a Micronesian population with a diabetes prevalence of the same order as the Pima Indians. In both sexes and in subjects 10 to 19 years, the frequency distributions of the logarithms of the fasting and two-hour glucose values were clearly unimodal. In most sex and age groups of 20 years and older, the frequency distributions of fasting and two-hour glucose values were bimodal and consistent with a model of two overlapping Gaussian distributions. This population is characterized by marked obesity. However, there was no significant difference in the degree of obesity between subjects in the first and second curves of the bimodal distribution. This makes it unlikely that the bimodality is a consequence of the marked obesity seen in both the Pima and Nauru populations. The data show that among Nauruans, as with the Pimas, the frequency distribution of glucose concentrations can be used to separate the population into normal and hyperglycemic groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1979

Ethnic variability in the plasma insulin response to oral glucose in Polynesian and Micronesian subjects.

The pattern of insulin response to oral glucose over a wide range of glucose tolerance has been studied in two separate ethnic groups--Polynesians and Micronesians. Fasting insulin concentrations were relatively unchanged over the entire range of glucose tolerance in both populations, irrespective of whether comparable lean or obese samples of both groups were studied. The patterns of 2-h plasma insulins were similar over the whole range of glucose tolerance in Polynesians and Micronesians. However, in the comparisons of all subjects, or lean or obese groups of these populations, the plasma insulin concentrations of the Micronesians were both consistently and significantly higher. As the data analysis was arranged to take into account groups with identical 2-h plasma glucose concentrations and comparable degrees of obesity, the differences cannot be attributed to differences in the glucose levels or in obesity. In the presence of similar fasting insulin concentrations, these findings imply an ethnic variability in the pancreatic beta-cell response to oral glucose.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Studies on hepatitis B surface antigen and antibody in Nauru. I. Distribution amongst Nauruans.

The age specific prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen and antibody was studied among a random sample of Nauruans over the age of 10 years. Overall, 79% of subjects showed evidence of past infection with hepatitis B virus with the highest prevalence among young people. While there was no difference in the infection rate between males and females, the carrier rate in males was 50% higher. In both sexes the carrier rate declined with increasing age. Significant differences in carrier rates were detected among people living in different parts of the island.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1975

A sero-epidemiologic survey on arbovirus in Wuvulu Island.

The authors present here the results of a serological survey on arbovirus infections, which was conducted on 116 out of 505 inhibitants of Wuvulu island, the westernmost island of the Bismarck archipelago, located 260 km north of Wewak, Papua-New Guinea. The islanders are divided in two communities of unequal size: the Wuvulian themselves, who are Micronesians, and the coconut workers who are Melanesians coming from the Sepik district. In addition to the presence of a group A virus, this survey shows a recent infection in the Melanesians by Dengue type 2 virus, probably during the 1971-72 epidemic. The virus did not reach Wuvulu island, as shown by negative results observed in the micronesian sera. A better knowledge of the potential dengue mosquito vectors would be useful in order to define the risk of an eventual introduction of the virus on the remote island.

Arbovirus Infections↗