Hyperglycaemia in the Urbanized Aboriginal the Davenport Survey

In a survey of 210 subjects in an urbanized Aboriginal community at Port Augusta, 10 had known diabetes, and hyperglycæmia diagnostic of diabetes mellitus was identified in an additional 12 subjects. Hyperglycæmia was age-related and, with the present limited data available, appeared to be associated with obesity and myocardial ischæmia. It is suggested that both genetic and environmental effects play a part in the high prevalence of hyperglycæmia. Further studies are required to assess the extent of the problem among urbanized compared with native-dwelling Aborigines, and to clarify the relationship of the hyperglycæmia to other variables.