Establishment of the Study Group on Molecular Diabetology in Asia

　

Background

     Recently, the number of diabetics has been rapidly increasing not only in Japan but also throughout Asia. This is a national issue, which requires some urgent measures, such as the clarification of diabetes outbreak prophylaxis.
     Although racial differences in diabetic development are known, Asian races show similarities in development and pathological conditions. This is presumably because Asian races all have the same racial characteristics different from those of the Westerners. Accordingly, the identification of the common factors for diabetic development in Asia races will help to elucidate the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus in Asian races as well as prevent its development.
     This sort of studies in Caucasians have already started by G. I. Bell et al., and collected samples are being for investigation in Mexico, the United States, Europe, etc.

The 1st Board Meeting of this study group was held on May 22nd, 1998 in Wakayama prefecture, Japan with participants from 9 countries and the 1st Symposium was held in Osaka, 1999. Since then, this study group has been held in every December.　Aims of this study group are following.

1. To promote mutual enlightenment on molecular diabetology in Asia.
2. To build a study network for investigating the pathogenesis of diabetes in Asian races and provide opportunities to study and discuss on the common ground.