Post by Okwes on Dec 22, 2005 22:06:23 GMT -5
Shivwits Paiutes face diabetes
By RACHEL TUELLER
rtueller@thespectrum.com
ST. GEORGE- Benny Wero stood before a hall of fellow tribal members
telling the tale of his own experiences and struggles in living with
diabetes. While health officials have elevated the level of the disease
nationwide to "epidemic," the prominence of diabetes in American
Indians, including the local Paiute tribe, are following the same trend.
For the past two and half years, registered dietitian Frida Theros, RD,
CD, CDE, has served the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah as a diabetes
educator. Theros works with more than 850 Paiutes within five bands.
Thursday night, members of the Shivwits band of Paiute Indians gathered
at their community hall to hear Theros and Wero speak of the practical
applications of daily management of diabetes.
Wero spoke with humor and humility of his struggles to finally manage
his diabetes and of the changes those modifications brought with it.
"The sickness makes you want to give up," said Wero.
But today the 40-year-old wakes early in the morning, walks and jogs two
miles, drinks more water, chooses a better diet and finds his energy is
sustained to the end of the day, improvements that came through personal
effort and choices and that also helped him shed 24 pounds.
Wero's objective was two-fold. He also hoped to feel the spirit he'd
once enjoyed in his daily life and that he'd felt at Pow Wows.
Inspiration to change also came from observing his mother as she gained
ground in her battle with diabetes. Wero now hopes his own example will
reflect on his children and help them as well.
"I know someday maybe my kids will go through this, they'll see it and
they'll recognize it," he said.
While Wero openly admitted to his peers that change didn't come without
difficulty, he does believe sacrifices such as severely reducing his
intake of his favorite food of pinenuts, has been well worth it.
"It's something I've got to live with, but I've got to control it," he
said.
According to Theros, American Indians are genetically predisposed to and
at "high risk" for diabetes based on several factors.
"Low physical activity and high-fat, high-sugar diets are very different
than what they had before. Historically they were hunters and gathers
and they ate lean game meats and a lot of plant foods," said Theros, who
gave tribal members practical tips, charts and guidelines for daily
diabetes management Thursday night.
Rochelle Pikyavit, Lifestyle coordinator for the Shivwits band, sees the
impact the disease has on her own tribe and family. Both of her parents
and her uncles on her father's side have diabetes and Pikyavit sees more
youths testing positive for diabetes. Today she hopes programs like
Thursday night's event will bring more public awareness to the
reservation.
Marlene Wall says the her goal as a lifestyle coordinator for the Cedar
City band of Paiute Indians is to "decrease the number of Native
American's in our tribe that are plagued with it."
"That's what it seems like to me: With their heredity and lifestyle,
there's not much they can do about it except modify their lifestyle,"
said Wall, whose uncle and grandmother have diabetes.
Theros, who was named as Diabetes Educator of the Month last year by
Diabetes Magazine, loves her work and believes in the program's mission.
"The focus of the program is educating them that the fact that dialysis,
amputation and dying early - in their 50s - from diabetes complications
is not their destiny. It's very avoidable," said Theros.
By RACHEL TUELLER
rtueller@thespectrum.com
ST. GEORGE- Benny Wero stood before a hall of fellow tribal members
telling the tale of his own experiences and struggles in living with
diabetes. While health officials have elevated the level of the disease
nationwide to "epidemic," the prominence of diabetes in American
Indians, including the local Paiute tribe, are following the same trend.
For the past two and half years, registered dietitian Frida Theros, RD,
CD, CDE, has served the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah as a diabetes
educator. Theros works with more than 850 Paiutes within five bands.
Thursday night, members of the Shivwits band of Paiute Indians gathered
at their community hall to hear Theros and Wero speak of the practical
applications of daily management of diabetes.
Wero spoke with humor and humility of his struggles to finally manage
his diabetes and of the changes those modifications brought with it.
"The sickness makes you want to give up," said Wero.
But today the 40-year-old wakes early in the morning, walks and jogs two
miles, drinks more water, chooses a better diet and finds his energy is
sustained to the end of the day, improvements that came through personal
effort and choices and that also helped him shed 24 pounds.
Wero's objective was two-fold. He also hoped to feel the spirit he'd
once enjoyed in his daily life and that he'd felt at Pow Wows.
Inspiration to change also came from observing his mother as she gained
ground in her battle with diabetes. Wero now hopes his own example will
reflect on his children and help them as well.
"I know someday maybe my kids will go through this, they'll see it and
they'll recognize it," he said.
While Wero openly admitted to his peers that change didn't come without
difficulty, he does believe sacrifices such as severely reducing his
intake of his favorite food of pinenuts, has been well worth it.
"It's something I've got to live with, but I've got to control it," he
said.
According to Theros, American Indians are genetically predisposed to and
at "high risk" for diabetes based on several factors.
"Low physical activity and high-fat, high-sugar diets are very different
than what they had before. Historically they were hunters and gathers
and they ate lean game meats and a lot of plant foods," said Theros, who
gave tribal members practical tips, charts and guidelines for daily
diabetes management Thursday night.
Rochelle Pikyavit, Lifestyle coordinator for the Shivwits band, sees the
impact the disease has on her own tribe and family. Both of her parents
and her uncles on her father's side have diabetes and Pikyavit sees more
youths testing positive for diabetes. Today she hopes programs like
Thursday night's event will bring more public awareness to the
reservation.
Marlene Wall says the her goal as a lifestyle coordinator for the Cedar
City band of Paiute Indians is to "decrease the number of Native
American's in our tribe that are plagued with it."
"That's what it seems like to me: With their heredity and lifestyle,
there's not much they can do about it except modify their lifestyle,"
said Wall, whose uncle and grandmother have diabetes.
Theros, who was named as Diabetes Educator of the Month last year by
Diabetes Magazine, loves her work and believes in the program's mission.
"The focus of the program is educating them that the fact that dialysis,
amputation and dying early - in their 50s - from diabetes complications
is not their destiny. It's very avoidable," said Theros.