Post by blackcrowheart on Feb 5, 2006 18:20:58 GMT -5
Genetics, lifestyles increase risk for Native Americans
February 4, 2006
Genetics, lifestyles increase risk for Native Americans
By Patti Zarling
pzarling@greenbaypressgazette.com
www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060204/GPG0101/602040486/1207/GPGnews
[foto] Tim Moureau, right, is a diabetes coordinator for the Oneida
Community Health Center. He talks Friday with Georgia Fool Bull of
Oneida about the improvement she has made in controlling her diabetes
since she has gotten an insulin pump. B.A. Rupert/Press-Gazette
Dan O'Loughlin of Appleton cut his foot so severely his shoe was
bloodstained, yet he didn't even know he was injured.
That's because diabetes, coupled with slow circulation, has left him
with no feeling in his far extremities.
"That was a bad one, I could have lost my foot," said O'Loughlin, 53,
who already has lost a toe.
Diabetes has been with O'Loughlin, whose mother is Oneida Indian and
father is Irish, since he was 30 years old. National figures indicate
diabetes is skyrocketing, even among children. And experts say a
combination of genetics and lifestyle makes Native Americans especially
vulnerable to the disease.
As the Native American population, like the rest of Americans, exercises
less and eats worse, the problem is reaching alarming proportions,
doctors warn. Indian Health Services says 12.8 percent of Native
Americans and Alaskan natives age 20 and older have Type 2, or
adult-onset diabetes, and estimates the number creeps to 15.1 percent if
you include undiagnosed cases. Native Americans and Alaska natives are
2.2 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic whites,
according to the institute.
"It's frightening," said Gail Carels, a family practice doctor at Prevea
Clinic who also directs its diabetes program. "We see a large number of
Native Americans, as well as Hispanics and even Southeast Asians,
diagnosed with diabetes as their diets become more Westernized."
One theory suggests Indian populations, in particular, may be vulnerable
because of a select gene that helped them survive during times of
famine, but now makes them vulnerable to obesity, Carels said.
Tim Moureau, diabetes coordinator at the Oneida Health Center, said the
chronic condition is most prevalent in Native Americans. In one Arizona
tribe, half the population is believed to be diabetic.
Moureau said many tribal members actually suffer from metabolic
syndrome, which includes diabetes, high blood pressure and increases in
bad cholesterol and declines in good cholesterol.
And it is a fairly new condition to the population, mostly contracted in
the past 100 years or so.
"It's the environmental part that's changed," Moureau said. "We all know
we've gotten obese. We drive our kids everywhere. Everything's mechanized."
Another tribal member, Georgia Fool Bull, struggles with diabetes as well.
Now 44, she was diagnosed at age 22. But she admits she hasn't always
been vigilant about caring for herself, despite possible complications.
"I guess I was in denial and still sometimes am still in denial," she
said. "It's hard when you don't feel sick. And I'm a stubborn person. I
don't like being told what I shouldn't be eating, even though I know
people say stuff because they care for me."
Her diabetes has led to neuropathy in her hands and feet. She says they
feel numb and often painful.
O'Loughlin had to make other changes, too. He takes pills for high
cholesterol and heart problems, as well as insulin shots two or three
times a day. He's had bypass surgery, kidney problems and artificial
veins put in his legs. He also lost a toe and part of his foot.
Many Native Americans diagnosed with diabetes become depressed, Moureau
said. Not odd, he said, considering the disease must be monitored for
life and symptoms, such as blindness, kidney troubles and vascular
problems, are common in those who aren't careful.
"It never goes away," he said. "It's not a matter of feeling better,
it's a matter of not feeling worse."
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in receiving the included information for research
and educational purposes. For more information go to:
www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
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If you wish to use copyrighted material from this email
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February 4, 2006
Genetics, lifestyles increase risk for Native Americans
By Patti Zarling
pzarling@greenbaypressgazette.com
www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060204/GPG0101/602040486/1207/GPGnews
[foto] Tim Moureau, right, is a diabetes coordinator for the Oneida
Community Health Center. He talks Friday with Georgia Fool Bull of
Oneida about the improvement she has made in controlling her diabetes
since she has gotten an insulin pump. B.A. Rupert/Press-Gazette
Dan O'Loughlin of Appleton cut his foot so severely his shoe was
bloodstained, yet he didn't even know he was injured.
That's because diabetes, coupled with slow circulation, has left him
with no feeling in his far extremities.
"That was a bad one, I could have lost my foot," said O'Loughlin, 53,
who already has lost a toe.
Diabetes has been with O'Loughlin, whose mother is Oneida Indian and
father is Irish, since he was 30 years old. National figures indicate
diabetes is skyrocketing, even among children. And experts say a
combination of genetics and lifestyle makes Native Americans especially
vulnerable to the disease.
As the Native American population, like the rest of Americans, exercises
less and eats worse, the problem is reaching alarming proportions,
doctors warn. Indian Health Services says 12.8 percent of Native
Americans and Alaskan natives age 20 and older have Type 2, or
adult-onset diabetes, and estimates the number creeps to 15.1 percent if
you include undiagnosed cases. Native Americans and Alaska natives are
2.2 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic whites,
according to the institute.
"It's frightening," said Gail Carels, a family practice doctor at Prevea
Clinic who also directs its diabetes program. "We see a large number of
Native Americans, as well as Hispanics and even Southeast Asians,
diagnosed with diabetes as their diets become more Westernized."
One theory suggests Indian populations, in particular, may be vulnerable
because of a select gene that helped them survive during times of
famine, but now makes them vulnerable to obesity, Carels said.
Tim Moureau, diabetes coordinator at the Oneida Health Center, said the
chronic condition is most prevalent in Native Americans. In one Arizona
tribe, half the population is believed to be diabetic.
Moureau said many tribal members actually suffer from metabolic
syndrome, which includes diabetes, high blood pressure and increases in
bad cholesterol and declines in good cholesterol.
And it is a fairly new condition to the population, mostly contracted in
the past 100 years or so.
"It's the environmental part that's changed," Moureau said. "We all know
we've gotten obese. We drive our kids everywhere. Everything's mechanized."
Another tribal member, Georgia Fool Bull, struggles with diabetes as well.
Now 44, she was diagnosed at age 22. But she admits she hasn't always
been vigilant about caring for herself, despite possible complications.
"I guess I was in denial and still sometimes am still in denial," she
said. "It's hard when you don't feel sick. And I'm a stubborn person. I
don't like being told what I shouldn't be eating, even though I know
people say stuff because they care for me."
Her diabetes has led to neuropathy in her hands and feet. She says they
feel numb and often painful.
O'Loughlin had to make other changes, too. He takes pills for high
cholesterol and heart problems, as well as insulin shots two or three
times a day. He's had bypass surgery, kidney problems and artificial
veins put in his legs. He also lost a toe and part of his foot.
Many Native Americans diagnosed with diabetes become depressed, Moureau
said. Not odd, he said, considering the disease must be monitored for
life and symptoms, such as blindness, kidney troubles and vascular
problems, are common in those who aren't careful.
"It never goes away," he said. "It's not a matter of feeling better,
it's a matter of not feeling worse."
Comment on this Story
[via url]
www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060204/GPG0101/602040486/1207/GPGnews
*
The material in this post is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research
and educational purposes. For more information go to:
www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
oregon.uoregon.edu/~csundt/documents.htm
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this email
for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain
permission from the copyright owner.