Blacks Have Poorer Control of Diabetes Than Whites

Finding may explain their higher complication, death rates, experts say

By Kathleen Doheny
HealthDay Reporter

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FRIDAY, Aug. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Blacks with diabetes tend to have worse control of the disease than whites, a new review of the data shows.

The finding could explain why black patients are typically at increased risk for diabetes-linked complications and death, the researchers said.

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"This confirms what doctors have known," added Dr. Larry C. Deeb, president of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association and a professor of social and behavioral medicine at Florida State University College of Medicine.

"What this study does is take all the [published] papers they could find and show that, across the board, the African-Americans have an increased risk," said Deeb, who was not involved in the research.

The findings were published Friday in the journal Diabetes Care.

The review is what's known as a "meta-analysis."

"We took all these studies [and] combined all the data from each individual study," explained co-author Ronny A. Bell, associate professor of epidemiology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

The findings confirmed what the individual studies had already found, Bell said. "But a meta-analysis can give you more evidence to say [the finding] with more confidence," he said.

The data included information on more than 42,000 white and 14,000 black patients with diabetes. Most were older than 50 and had type 2 diabetes, the most common, obesity-linked form of the illness. In type 2 disease, the body either does not produce enough insulin or cells don't use insulin efficiently. Either way, glucose builds up in the bloodstream.

The researchers looked at the results of a blood test called the A1C, also known as glycated hemoglobin or HbA1c. The test provides a "look back," averaging a person's blood sugar control for the previous two to three months. Some doctors compare it to a baseball player's seasonal batting average, explaining that it's valuable information to have in addition to the daily blood sugar readings.

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