South Asians represent about 3% of the Canadian population and have a higher burden of certain cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared with white people. The objective of this study was to review the literature to compare cardiovascular risk factors and disease management practices among adult South Asian and white Canadians.

Objectives of this ancillary analysis of a prospective, prevention study among Asian Indians with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) were a) to quantify the reduction in incident diabetes at 24 months in participants who achieved normal glucose tolerance (NGT) at 6 months (NGT-6 m) compared with the other participants, b) the factors influencing the reversal to NGT at the end of the study at 24 months (NGT-24 m), and c) to assess changes in cardiometabolic risk factors in different categories of dysglycemia at 24 months.

The prevalence of diabetes in China has increased substantially over recent decades, with more than 100 million people estimated to be affected by the disease presently. During this period there has been an increase in the rates of obesity and a reduction in physical activity. Many of the changes in lifestyle and diet are a result of increased economic development and urbanisation. In addition to an increasingly westernised diet, the traditional Chinese diet also plays a part, with the quantity and quality of rice intake linked to the risk of type 2 diabetes.

China has a large burden of diabetes: in 2013, one in four people with diabetes worldwide were in China, where 11·6% of adults had diabetes and 50·1% had prediabetes. Many were undiagnosed, untreated, or uncontrolled. This epidemic is the result of rapid societal transition that has led to an obesogenic environment against a backdrop of traditional lifestyle and periods of famine, which together puts Chinese people at high risk of diabetes and multiple morbidities.

Diabetes is a huge burden in China, where about 100 million people have been diagnosed with the disease. Treatments are needed that are optimal for treating Chinese patients with diabetes. Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes are characterised by having relatively low bodyweight and significant β-cell deterioration. β-cell failure results in deficiency of insulin secretion, particularly at the early phase of insulin secretion in Chinese patients. As a result, postprandial hyperglycaemia is more pronounced in Chinese patients with early type 2 diabetes than most other ethnic groups.