NAI Diabetes Prevalence and Risk Factors

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

Prevalence

• The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes in Native American communities has increased dramatically during the second half of this century.
  
• Although many factors contribute to this marked increase, studies indicate that a trend away from traditional lifestyles in favor of westernization, with accompanying increases in body weight and diminished physical activity, is largely to blame.
  
• Complications from diabetes are major causes of death and health problems in most Native American populations. Of equal concern is the fact that Type 2, or adult-onset diabetes, is increasingly being discovered in Native American youth.
  
• Diabetes rates are highest in full-blooded Native Americans, as first observed in Choctaw Indians in 1965 and subsequently in other tribes. The prevalence of diabetes in residents of the Pima community in Arizona is the highest in individuals of full Native American heritage. About 50 percent of the tribe between the ages of 30 and 64 have diabetes. Prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among all Native American tribes in the United States is 12.2 percent of those over 19 years of age.

Risk Factors

• As is the case with other high-risk populations, research indicates that there is a genetic basis behind the rise in prevalence of diabetes among Native Americans.
  
• Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes in many tribes, with increasing rates of obesity measured in several communities in the United Stated and Canada. This increase can be linked to the tribes’ move away from traditional diets and lifestyles towards more modern ways of life. One notable study showed that Pima Indians who have adopted an “Anglo” diet are three times more likely to develop diabetes over six years than are their counterparts who eat a more traditional diet. The community now has the highest rate of Type 2 diabetes in the world. In addition, these studies have shown that there is a hereditary link. In the case of Arizona’s Pimas community, diabetes rates are highest in the offspring of parents who themselves developed diabetes at a young age. This trend has also shown up in studies of other tribes.

To read more from the article, view here: http://aihc1998.tripod.com/diabetes.html

[Medicine Eagle]

I was suprised to find this out initially. However, everyone in my family but me has Type II DM. My Mother, Father, Paternal Grandmother, Maternal Uncle,Grandmother, and Grandfather. So I keep a very close eye on my blood sugar.

TiredBraveHeart