"What is exciting is that we will be employing state-of-the-science methodology, the most cutting-edge techniques for looking at metabolic rate and the number of calories people burn, in a setting that is very challenging," she says. Meanwhile, the extensive genetic aspects of the study will take place in the United States.

The researchers are attempting to answer why a person who is genetically predisposed to develop diabetes does not develop it.

"What is it about their environment or lifestyle that changes that?" asks Schulz. "This study is unique because we can actually measure the changes in lifestyle over the last 15 years."

Schulz says that the researchers are expecting to find an increase in Type 2 diabetes and obesity among the Mexican Pimas that parallels the changes in their lifestyle. It's a pattern that has been documented in other countries undergoing dramatic industrial and economic development, like China, where diabetes prevalence has increased threefold over a 10-year period. Similar findings have been recorded in India.

While this may seem like bad news for the developing world, Schulz said there is hope in the implication that diabetes can be prevented in populations with a predisposition for the condition.

The team of researchers intends to publish its findings from this phase of the study in 2012.

SOURCE Northern Arizona University