Diabetes and race. A historical perspective.

Abstract

Today, US government sources inform us that Native Americans, Blacks, and Hispanics/Latinos run the greatest risk of developing type 2 diabetes. One hundred years ago, however, Jews were thought to be the population most likely to develop this disease. I evaluated the evidence that the medical and public health communities provided to support the purported link between diabetes and Jews. Diabetes was conceptualized as a Jewish disease not necessarily because its prevalence was high among this population, but because medicine, science, and culture reinforced each other, helping to construct narratives that made sense at the time. Contemporary narratives are as problematic as the erstwhile depiction of diabetes as a disease of Jews.