I’ve always believed one of Peel Region’s greatest strengths, much like the rest of Canada, is its diversity – in fact that’s one of the main reasons I chose to open up my medical specialty practice in Brampton when I moved from the United States.

November, the designated Diabetes Awareness Month, provides all of us an opportunity to reflect on some of the health disparities this diversity can bring.

For instance, despite terrific growth and a booming economy, Peel carries the infamous title of “the diabetes capital of Canada.”

In fact, a startling one in seven Peel residents has diabetes, a leading cause of death in the region, compared to roughly one in 11 for the rest of the country.

So, are Bramptonians and Mississaugans simply less active or nutrition-conscious – something we know can put people at risk for Type 2 diabetes – than the rest of the country? The answer, it turns out, is slightly more complicated.

For one, compared to Canadians of Caucasian European descent, South Asian Canadians are twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. Even more alarming, this group is more likely to die from heart problems as a complication of diabetes, and many are unaware of this disease link.

With almost 500,000 people of South Asian descent living in Peel, and another 300,000 identified as having Asian, Caribbean or African heritage (also at increased risk for Type 2 diabetes), the reality is Peel’s demographics are contributing to a growing regional epidemic of diabetes.

Unfortunately, people with diabetes are over three times more likely to be hospitalized for heart-related problems and may develop heart disease 10 to 15 years earlier than people without diabetes. Ultimately, approximately one in two people with Type 2 diabetes will die of heart attack or stroke.

I have long warned about the enormous cost of diabetes to the individual as well as to the nation’s health-care system. The first step in addressing, and then reversing, this trend of increasing heart complications from diabetes is awareness. However, according to the recent My Heart Matters survey, while 91 per cent of South Asian Canadians with Type 2 diabetes feel they are knowledgeable about disease management, 60 per cent are unaware that their diabetes alone significantly increases the risk of heart attack, heart failure and stroke.

Beyond that, the survey found the majority of South Asian Canadians don’t know that heart disease is the most common cause of death among adults with Type 2 diabetes, and that 81 per cent wish they knew about this connection earlier, presumably so that they could take corrective action.