NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Scientists link gene to diabetes

Simon Collins
By Simon Collins
Reporter·
16 May, 2004 11:48 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

By SIMON COLLINS, science reporter

Scientists have found the first clear proof of genetic variations that make Maori people more likely to get diabetes.

A team led by Auckland University Professor Garth Cooper (Waikato) and doctoral student Nicola Poa (Ngapuhi) has found three minor variations in one gene in 7 per cent
of Maori people with diabetes, but in only 1 per cent of Maori without the disease.

They believe that further research will find other variations which will help to explain a skyrocketing Maori rate of diabetes - one of the highest in the world.

More than one in five (21.4 per cent) Maori men over 45 have diabetes, compared with 8.6 per cent of Pakeha men of the same age.

Among women over 45, the rates are 13 per cent for Maori and 7.5 per cent for Pakeha.

"There are areas of New Zealand where upwards of half of older people have diabetes, such as parts of the East Coast," Dr Cooper said.

Genetic variations programmed from birth have long been suspected as among the causes of the discrepancy, along with lifestyle factors such as diet and lack of exercise. But no one has found the variations before.

Similar variations have been found among diabetics in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and various European countries. Dr Cooper's study of 131 Maori patients with diabetes and 258 Maori who do not have the disease has found two already-known variations, and two completely new ones.

One of the known variations turned out to have no effect on diabetes in Maori, because it was as common among those without diabetes as it was among those with the disease.

The other three variations were found in a total of nine of the 131 patients with diabetes (7 per cent).

Dr Cooper said a bigger study of about 1000 Maori diabetics would be needed to confirm the findings. That would identify about 70 people with the genetic variations, and it would then be possible to test other members of their families to see if they also have the variations.

If local Maori agree, this may be done in the Counties-Manukau area, where a taskforce led by former regional public health service manager Paul Stephenson is working on a long-term strategy to "beat diabetes".

Dr Cooper said the wider study would also look for other genetic variations affecting more than the initial 7 per cent of Maori diabetics.

"I suspect we'll find a series of them that will put the percentage up to 20 or 30 per cent or something."

He said it would cost between $10,000 and $20,000 to develop a genetic test and then $30 to $50 to test each person. He wants feedback from the Maori community on whether this would be worthwhile.

The medical director of South Auckland Maori health provider Te Kupenga o Hoturoa, Dr Guy Naden, said the test would provide another tool to encourage people to eat better and exercise to overcome their genetic susceptibility to the disease.

"It's going to open up a whole new screening process and I think it's exciting. It's quite revolutionary.

"We'll take a tool like this and try to use it as productively as we can."

But a Northland District Health Board member and GP who has made a major study of diabetes in Northland, Dr Shane Reti, said screening for genetic variations affecting 7 per cent of Maori diabetics might not be as worthwhile as spending the same amount of money on dietary advice - especially if screening encouraged those who did not have the variations to relax.

"At 7 per cent, it's well below obesity and other risk factors," he said.

He also questioned whether the genetic variations might actually be caused by diet and other lifestyle factors.

"We can change DNA by giving you a blast of radiation, so can lifestyle induce a form of gene mutation?" he asked. Dr Cooper said the genetic variations were in the inherited "germ line" of patients and could not be affected by lifestyle.

But he acknowledged that whether money would be better spent on nutritional education rather than genetic testing was "a good question".

Although he is of the Waikato iwi himself, he has not tested his own blood to see if he has the variation making him susceptible to diabetes.

"It's good practice not to do that. I know that I don't have diabetes, and I know that I have very good glucose tolerance."


DIABETES EPIDEMIC

More than 100,000 New Zealanders are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

More than 50,000 further cases may be undiagnosed.

The number diagnosed is expected to pass 145,000 by 2011.

The epidemic costs the health system more than $170 million a year.

Obesity is a leading risk factor for the disease.

17 per cent of New Zealanders were obese in 1996.

This is predicted to rise to 29 per cent by 2011.

Herald Feature: Health

Related information and links

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

Auckland

Woman traumatised after alleged gang rape by men she met at Ponsonby bar, two charged

02 Jul 05:31 AM
Premium
PoliticsUpdated

New visa: Why Ministers were warned over migrant numbers, health system impact

02 Jul 05:29 AM
New Zealand|crime

Migrant worker allegedly beaten for demanding unpaid wages, man faces serious assault charge

02 Jul 05:22 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Woman traumatised after alleged gang rape by men she met at Ponsonby bar, two charged

Woman traumatised after alleged gang rape by men she met at Ponsonby bar, two charged

02 Jul 05:31 AM

The men were granted bail and have a curfew from 7pm to 7am.

Premium
New visa: Why Ministers were warned over migrant numbers, health system impact

New visa: Why Ministers were warned over migrant numbers, health system impact

02 Jul 05:29 AM
Migrant worker allegedly beaten for demanding unpaid wages, man faces serious assault charge

Migrant worker allegedly beaten for demanding unpaid wages, man faces serious assault charge

02 Jul 05:22 AM
From the theatre to a line mechanic: Hastings woman aims to inspire women into electrical trade

From the theatre to a line mechanic: Hastings woman aims to inspire women into electrical trade

02 Jul 04:05 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP