Mar. 10, 2006 Insulin levels in African American children worsen
as they progress through puberty while those same levels don't
change in their Caucasian counterparts, says new University of
Alberta research that shows puberty is a key developmental
period affecting diabetes risk. Dr. Geoff Ball, from the Faculty
of Medicine and Dentistry at the U of A, was part of a team of
researchers who conducted a unique longitudinal study that
looked into the underlying physical and ethnicity-specific
characteristics of insulin resistance in childhood and
adolescence. They evaluated the dynamics of insulin sensitivity,
insulin secretion and pancreatic beta-cell function in African
American and Caucasian children through the stages of puberty.
The research, which included investigators from the University
of Southern California, Tufts University and the University of
Alabama at Birmingham, was recently published in "The Journal of
Pediatrics." The study took place in Alabama over seven years,
where participants were part