Alcohol Consumption and Risk of Type 2 diabetes: Gender and Race Differences

Worldwide, the incidence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is rising rapidly, and there are already more than 220 million diabetic individuals. The global epidemic of T2D is a major public health problem of 21st century and the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. In the United States (US), the number of people with diabetes was more than 20 million in 2005, and the number is projected to be 48.3 million by 2050. T2D is a chronic disease in which there are high levels of glucose in the blood. T2D may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, and hypertension or comorbidity. It has been shown that individuals with T2D are at 2- to 3-fold increased risk for cardiovascular disease compared with those without diabetes; while the prevalence of hypertension in patients with T2D is between 1.5 and 2.3 times greater than for non-diabetic subjects