Approximately 346 million individuals worldwide and 25.8 million individuals in the U.S. have diabetes (1,2). The high prevalence of diabetes results in a persistently increased prevalence of diabetic nephropathy, which is the leading cause of kidney failure and premature cardiovascular mortality (3). In the U.S., diabetic nephropathy is represented disproportionately in several minority populations including American Indians (4). Of the American Indian tribes in which type 2 diabetes develops at an alarming rate in children as a result of childhood obesity, the Pima Indians tend to have even higher rates of diabetic nephropathy (up to 65; age-group 45-74 years) and concomitant end stage renal disease (ESRD; as high as 3.5 times) compared with white Americans (5-7). Fasting hyperglycemia and hemoglobin A1C are strong predictors of albuminuria in Pima Indians.
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