Since the 1940s, numerous cases of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) have been observed in certain American Indian populations. Extremely high prevalence rates of NIDDM occur most strikingly in several tribes of Paleo-Indians, whose ancestors migrated to North America >11,000 yr ago. Archaeological evidence from that period indicates that certain groups of Paleo-Indians maintained an arctic-like hunter-gatherer life-style in an area in temperate North America ranging from Wyoming to Arizona. This life-style featured a reliance on unpredictable big game species as a major food source. However, at this time, big game species were becoming extinct. It is hypothesized that those Paleo-Indians who relied on big game as a food source developed a “thrifty” genotype that allowed a selective advantage during the periods of fasting that occurred between big game kills. It also is hypothesized that this thrifty genotype in these Indians may contribute to NIDDM when a sedentary life-style is adopted and food sources are constant. Because insulin resistance in muscle is a major feature of NIDDM, it is possible that insulin resistance per se is the phenotypic expression of the thrifty genotype.
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Perspectives in Diabetes|
February 01 1991
Archaeology of NIDDM: Excavation of the “Thrifty” Genotype
Michael Wendorf;
Michael Wendorf
Archaeological Research Facility, University of California
Berkeley
; the Division of Diabetes and Endocrine Research, Mount Zion Medical Center of the University of California, and the Departments of Medicine and Physiology, University of California
San Francisco, California
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Ira D Goldfine
Ira D Goldfine
Archaeological Research Facility, University of California
Berkeley
; the Division of Diabetes and Endocrine Research, Mount Zion Medical Center of the University of California, and the Departments of Medicine and Physiology, University of California
San Francisco, California
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Address correspondence and reprint requests to Michael Wendorf, PhD, Division of Diabetes and Endocrine Research, Mount Zion Medical Center, PO Box 7921, San Francisco, CA 94120.
Diabetes 1991;40(2):161–165
Article history
Received:
July 05 1990
Revision Received:
September 25 1990
Accepted:
September 25 1990
PubMed:
1991567
Citation
Michael Wendorf, Ira D Goldfine; Archaeology of NIDDM: Excavation of the “Thrifty” Genotype. Diabetes 1 February 1991; 40 (2): 161–165. https://doi.org/10.2337/diab.40.2.161
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