Diabetes mellitus and cancer: the different expression of these diseases in Israeli Arabs and Jews.

The Arab population of Israel is a separate ethnic group from the Jewish population, embracing a different lifestyle and different nutritional habits and environmental exposures. These variations may lead to dissimilar expressions of certain diseases in the Arab Israeli as compared with the Jewish population. In recent years, the Arab population in Israel has experienced rapid and marked changes toward westernization in lifestyle, and significant increases in the incidence rate of both diabetes mellitus (DM) and cancer This is combined with an increase in known risk factors common to both illnesses. Review of recent publications and official health statistics provided the sources of information for this review. Studies show that in recent decades the incidence rate of DM in the Israeli Arab population has increased by 9.1 per 1000 persons annually and of cancer by 1.3 per 1000 person annually among males and by 1.2 per 1000 person among females. In contrast, these rates have decreased in the Jewish population. Lifestyle change in recent decades (westernization) in the Israeli Arab population has led to a marked increase in the incidence rate of DM and cancer in this group. The most influential risk factors are unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and tobacco smoking. By understanding these processes, effective intervention efforts can be initiated in order to reverse these trends.