South Asian Women with Diabetes Complications in the Los Angeles County - Coursework Example

Running Head: south asian women with diabetes in los angeles county South Asian Women with Diabetes Complications in the Los Angeles County ofthe Writer] [Name of the Institution] [Name of the Professor] [Course] Introduction The 2012 report of Asian American Federation states in its observations that between the year 2000 and 2010 the population of the South Asian people grew at the fastest rate and it became the major ethnic group in the United States. The South Asian population has also been found in other new areas of the country suggesting that their population is fast spreading to different parts of the country. The census report of 2010 states that more than 3.4 million South Asian people live in the United States and from the entire South Asian population 80 per cent of them are Indian, followed by people from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives. Panetta, Claire (2010) states that with the increasing demand for better education, working avenues and better lifestyle people from other regions of the world are settling down in the United States. The author further states that before 1965 the South Asian population in the United States comprised of a considerable small population. The small population of the primarily comprised the immigrated labors who had settled in California. The next arrival of the immigrants in the United States after 1965 was for educational purposes. They were predominantly the highly educated who came to the United States for pursuing higher education and even for the prospects of better occupational opportunities. This led to the increasing population of the South Asian origin in the United States especially from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Verma (2010) points out that even after several reports and incidences or racial discrimination and reported violence against the immigrants there has been a surge of need for security for the immigrant population but that has not deterred them from continuing their normal course of life in the United States. In fact, it is more drawn towards the offered opportunities as a result the South Asian population in the US is reported to grow at a faster rate between the year 2000 and 2010. According to Rojas (2013) women constitute around 60 per cent of the South Asian population. Loghmani (2011) states that diabetes is a collection of metabolic disease which is characterized by increased level of glucose in the blood of an individual, the level of glucose in the blood can rise due to the problem in secretion of insulin or due to the action of the secreted insulin or even by both. The author further explains that insulin is the hormone secreted by the beta cells present in the pancreas which functions to utilize the glucose released from the digested food as a resource for energy. Due to problems the body fails to produce the required insulin and in certain cases the produced insulin fails to resist the levels of glucose in the body and as a result of both the cases the glucose level in the blood increases causing diabetes. Squirrell and Bush (2010) states that diabetes is of two types – Type 1 and Type 2, Type 1 diabetes is caused when the body fails to produce insulin which is required by the body and results in increased levels of glucose in the body while on the other hand Type 2 diabetes is the diabetes which is caused when the body becomes resistant to the insulin produced by the body. Daiya (2011) adds that in case of the Type 1 diabetes, which is also known as insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile diabetes, the patient needs to be injected with insulin for enabling the patient to cope up with the insulin deficiency in the body. While on the other hand for the Type 2 diabetes, which is also known as insulin-resistive diabetes or the adult-onset diabetes, the treatment involves controlling the diet of the patient, taking of oral medications, and even insulin in some cases. According to Kelly (2013) Type 1 diabetes is found to be partly inherited which gets triggered by certain infections while Type 2 diabetes is primarily caused by lifestyle and genetics. The lifestyle which primarily causes diabetes has resulted from urbanization such as obesity, wrong diet which includes consumption of unhealthy food, stress and lack of physical activity. Due to the rapid change in lifestyle of the individuals and increased pace of urbanization the cases of diabetes especially Type 1 diabetes has increased over the years which results with the change in the lifestyles of the human beings due to the changing surrounding factors. According to the observations of Bajaj et al, (2013) among the causes of death, diabetes if found to be the ninth leading causes of death of women and South Asian women mortality rates with diabetes is found to be the second highest cause. The mentioned information underlines the severity of the disease which takes away so many lives and also the fact that it is one of the most common diseases that affects the women. Ramachandran et al, (2012) observes that diabetes is one of the most affecting diseases caused by lifestyle disorder which is increasingly spreading over the world but has larger presence in the South Asian region. The author says that Asia contributes to more than 60 per cent of the population that is affected by diabetes. The observations of Sohal (2011) substantiate by saying that due to urbanization and change in the educational status of the individuals they are increasingly moving towards the better opportunities in the west as a result, South-Asians constitute the fastest growing immigrant population and are also the second largest minority population living in Canada. The author stresses on the increasing spread of the South-Asian population. Ramachandran et al, (2012) points out that the Asian populations have a much stronger genetic and ethnic predisposition of diabetes and has lower resistive capacity from the environmental factors. Due to this the people belonging from this region tend to get affected by diabetes from a very younger age. Lifestyle habits which include eating habits, practice of physical fitness regime, the combination of diet taken by the individuals and other forms of behaviors that becomes the habit goes a long way in contributing to cause diabetes among the Asian population especially among the women, South-Asian women. Thus, when due to the immigration of individuals from the South-Asian region such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, to the United States and specifically to Los Angeles, the affected genes and individuals move to the other part of the world but carry the disease along with them in their genes which spreads with the branching out generations. According to Sohal (2011) the individuals with South Asian origin suffers more with diabetes, three to five time more than the white people. Squirrell and Bush (2010) further substantiates the statement and says that diabetes are caused by the genes which carry diabetes into them and also other most influential factors such as lifestyle of the individuals. The lifestyle includes dietary habits, the habit of physical activities, the amount of stress that one faces and the overall lifestyle that one leads. The difference in the lifestyle of the South Asian people from the fair skinned people is found to be the major factors for the difference in the rate of diabetes and number of diabetes cases in the South Asian people from the white people. Crown (2012) makes a much needed illustration of the reasons due to which the individuals with South-Asian origin gets more affected with Type 2 and Type 1 diabetes than white skinned people. The author states that the term “South Asian” is used to associate people from the Indian subcontinent, that is, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Crown (2012) states that the people spread over the South Asian region, that is, the counties of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have similar lifestyle with a few negligible differences. The food habits and dietary consumption of the people spread over this region is also nearly same barring a few. This region of the world belongs to the developing and underdeveloped countries which has a moderate and majorly simplistic lifestyle. People mostly belonging from conservative families, and being brought up into comfortable and secured environment has a laid back attitude which is very much different from the west where the lifestyles are shaped by dynamism. The diets consumed by the South Asian people are high on fat which gets stored into the body as excess sugar and increases the glucose level of the blood causing diabetes. There is also mostly no commitment to physical fitness which adds to the problem unlike the people in the west who exercises regularly. The dietary habits of the western people also help them in burning the fats which prevent them from being affected with diabetes. Bajaj et al, (2013) makes an observation that says that the South-Asian women are more affected with diabetes due to a number of reasons. The author illustrates the reasons for such observations and says that the occurrence of diabetes among the South Asian women indicates to some of the concerning factors which goes a long way in explaining the reasons for which most South Asian women get affected with diabetes. The reasons are traced to have their origin from the psychological and social factors. Women in this part of the world, that is, South Asia is considered to be the one who is responsible for the well and up keep of the family, she carries all the responsibility for the well being of the members of the family. This put excessive burden on the women to take care and have concern for the well being of oneself. Due to which she tends to have a non-checked diet that does not check the amount of sugar consumed by the individual, the entire pressure of the family make the women extremely stressful which also adds to the reasons for being affected by diabetes. On top of that with the pressure of the responsibility and sacrificing attitude of the women they tend to neglect their need to exercise and as a result they tend to develop diabetes because the stored fat does not get burned. Conclusion From the above discussion it was revealed that diabetes is one of the most deadly diseases of the modern mankind that is caused by lifestyle related factors. With the larger settlement of the South Asians in the Los Angeles county reveals that there are larger number of South Asian women who are affected by diabetes especially Type 2 diabetes which is very deadly. From the discussion it also became clear that the reasons responsible for the diabetes are lifestyle disorders generated by the psychological and social commitments of the South Asian women. Hence, it could be concluded that the South Asian women in Los Angeles County are greatly affected by diabetes due to different lifestyle practice generated by various long rooted psychosocial factors. References Bajaj, S; Jawad, F; Islam, N; Verma, K (2013) "South Asian women with diabetes: Psychosocial challenges and management: Consensus statement". Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Jul-Aug [Online] Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3743353/ Crown (2012) "Non-Pharmacological Interventions to Reduce the Risk of Diabetes in People with Impaired Glucose Regulation: A Systematic Review and Economic Evaluation". Retrieved from (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK109422/ Daiya, K (2011) "Migration, Gender, Refugees, and South Asia: on international migration, and its implications for the study of cultural geographies", University of Chicago, USA Kelly, J (2013) "Diabetes ", Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, [Online] Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/media/presskits/aahd/diabetes.pdf Loghmani, E (2011) "Diabetes Mellitis: Type 1 and Type 2", Guidelines for Adolescent Nutrition Services. [Online] Retrieved from http://www.epi.umn.edu/let/pubs/img/adol_ch14.pdf Panetta, C (2010) "South Asian Immigration in the US". [Online] Retrieved from http://www.haverford.edu/engl/engl277b/Contexts/south_asian_immigration_to.htm Ramachandran, A; Snehalatha, C ; Shetty, Ananth S and Nanditha, A (2012) [Online] Retrieved from http://www.wjgnet.com/1948-9358/full/v3/i6/110.htm Rojas, L B (2013) "LAs growing Asian-American population: Theres more to the story ". [Online] Available at http://www.scpr.org/blogs/multiamerican/2013/09/25/14832/la-s-growing-asian-american-population-there-s-mor/ [Accessed on January 29, 2014] Sohal, P S. (2011) "Prevention and Management of Diabetes in South Asians". [Online] Retrieved from http://www.diabetes.ca/files/CJD/Sohal-Sept112008.pdf Squirrell, D and Bush, J (2010) "Diabetes Mellitus". [Online] Retrieved from http://www.oia.org.uk/userFiles/File/PDF/Diabetes.pdf Stoppler, M C (2012) "Diabetes Mellitus". [Online] Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/diabetes_mellitus/article.htm Verma, R (2010) "Backlash: South Asian Immigrant Voices on the Margins", Adelphi University, USA Read More