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Native Americans and Diabetes Since the arrival of Columbus in 1492, American Indians have been in a continuous struggle with diseases. It may not be small pox anymore, but illnesses are still haunting the native population. According to statistics, Native Americans have much higher rates of disease than the overall population. This includes a higher death rate from alcoholism, tuberculosis, and diabetes than any other racial or ethnic group. Recent studies by Indian health experts show that diabetes among Indian youth ages 15-19 has increased 54% since 1996 and 40% of Indian children are overweight. Even though diabetes rates vary considerably among the Native American population, deaths caused from diabetes are 230 percent greater than the United States population as a whole. Diabetes is an increasing crisis among the Native American population. Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to produce or respond to insulin, a hormone that allows blood glucose (blood sugar) to enter the cells of the body and be used for energy. Diabetes falls into two main categories: type 1, or juvenile diabetes, which usually occurs during childhood or adolescence, and type 2, or adult-onset diabetes, the most common form of the disease, usually occurring after age 40. Type 1 results from the body’s immune system attacking the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The onset of juvenile diabetes is much higher in the winter than in the summer. This association has been repeatedly confirmed in diabetes research. Type 2 is characterized by “insulin resistance,” or an inability of the cells to use insulin, sometimes accompanied by a deficiency in insulin production. There is also sometimes a third type of diabetes considered. It is gestational diabetes, which occurs when the body is not able to properly use insulin during pregnancy. Type 2 diabetes encompasses nine out of 10 diabetic cases. Diabetes is the fifth-deadliest disease in the United States, and it has no cure. The total annual economic cost of diabetes in 2002 was estimated to be $132 billion, or one out of every 10 health care dollars spent in the United States. Diabetes risk factors can fall into three major categories: family history, obesity, and impaired glucose tolerance. Minority groups and elderly are at the greatest risk of developing diabetes. Native Americans did not have a p... ... middle of paper ... ....indiancountry.com Ross, Matt. “Diabetes education with a twist.” Indian Country Today, 22 April 2004; available at http://www.indiancountry.com Reynolds, Jerry. “Washington in brief.” Indian Country Today, 23 July 2004; available at http://www.indiancountry.com Books and Journals: Jost, Kenneth. “Diabetes Epidemic: why is this serious disease on the increase?” The CQ Researcher (March 9, 2001): 185-200 IHS National Diabetes Program. Special Diabetes Program for Indians. Available from http://www.ihs.gov/MedicalPrograms/diabetes/resources/congressrprt.pdf, January 200; Internet; accessed 23 November 2004. Sandefur, Gary D., and Ronald R. Rindfuss, and Barney Cohen. Changing Numbers, Changing Needs: American Indian Demography and Public Health. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press, 1996. Seiffge-Krenke, Inge. Diabetic Adolescents and Their Families: Stress, Coping, and Adaptation. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Internet Sources: American Diabetes Association, “Native Americans and Diabetes”; available from http://www.diabetes.org/communityprograms-and-localevents/nativeamericans.jsp; Internet; accessed 11 November 2004.
The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secon 25 October 2009. http://www.diabetessymptomsonline.com/>. Organization, World Health and Health. Diabetes. 2009.
Diabetes education is a structured education and self-management (at diagnosis and regularly reviewed and reinforced) to promote awareness. Diet and lifestyle, healthy diet, weight loss if the person is overweight, smoking cessation, regular physical exercise. Maximizing glucose control while minimizing adverse effects of treatment such as hypoglycemia. Reduction of other risk factors for complications of diabetes, including the early detection and management of hypertension, drug treatment to modify lipid levels and consideration of antiplatelet therapy with aspirin. Early intervention for complications of diabetes,, including cardiovascular disease, feet problems, eye problems, kidney problems and neuropathy.
When early Europeans arrived in the United States more than 500 years ago, they were surprised to see Native Americans recovering from illnesses and injuries that they considered fatal. In many ways, the Indians' herbal remedies were far superior to those known to the new immigrants. But, for the Native Americans, they had no remedies for the "diseases of civilization," or white man's diseases, such as measles and small pox, which would wipe out thousands of them over the next few centuries. Not
American Indians have had health disparities as result of unmet needs and historical traumatic experiences that have lasted over 500 hundred years.1(p99) Since first contact American Indians have been exposed to infectious disease and death2(p19), more importantly, a legacy of genocide, legislated forcible removal, reservation, termination, allotment, and assimilation3. This catastrophic history had led to generational historical traumas and contributes to the worst health in the United States.2 American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) represent 0.9 percent of the United States population4(p3) or 1.9 million AI/AN of 566 federally recognized tribes/nations.5 American Indians/Alaska Natives have significantly higher mortality rates of intentional and unintentional injuries, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease and chronic lower respiratory disease than other American.6
Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 44(9), 406. doi:10.3928/00220124-20130617-38. Torpy, J. M. (2011). The 'Standard' Diabetes. Jama, 305(24), 2592 pp.
Schulz, L.O., Bennette, P.H., Ravussin, E., Kidd, J.R., Kidd, K.K., Esparaza, J., and Valencia, M.E., “Effects of Traditional and Western Environments on Prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes in Pima Indians in Mexico and the U.S.” Diabetes Care 29.8 (2006): 1866-1871. Google Scholar. Web. 3 May 2014.
Mainous, A. G., Diaz, V. A., & Geesey, M. E. (2008). Acculturation and healthy lifestyle among Latinos with diabetes. The Annals of Family Medicine, 6(2), 131-137.
Picture yourself as the youngest member of a four-person family. You are fifteen and have a great deal on your plate. You worry about school and dating. You worry about what to wear and what your plan is for Friday night. Now factor a few more items into the equation. One, your Father has lost a leg due to complications from diabetes. Two, your mother is in need of a kidney transplant as a result of diabetes. Three, your older sister is in the beginning stages of diabetes and four, you know that you’re next. This case scenario seems far-fetched, but if you are a member of the Arizona Pima tribe, this is commonplace. In fact, according to an article in the Oklahoma Indian Times, “the Pimas have the highest rate of diabetes in the entire world”(1). Being that diabetes is an inherited disease and the fact that most Pimas marry within their tribe, it makes sense that the number of cases continues to rise. However, diabetes was not always a concern for the Pimas. It has only been in the years that followed World War II that the Pimas health has been deteriorating (Marchland 2). In the past sixty years diabetes has been the biggest killer of the Pima people (Marchland 1). Coincidently, it has been these same sixty years that the Pimas have adopted a more Western way of life. It can be argued that without the influence of the outside world, the Pimas would not be suffering from diabetes.
Specific purpose: To inform my audience about what diabetes is, what causes this condition and its health effects.
Many people believe that Native Americans are a disadvantaged group of individuals in many ways. Culturally, in that many of the cultures of the various tribes across the Americas were taken from them by Europeans and their descendants. Socially, in that they are unlike other minorities in the United States because of their extra-constitutional status; and even medically, stemming from the general belief that Natives are at a higher risk for disease than other ethnicities due to tobacco and alcohol use, especially when used together (Falk, Hiller-Sturmhöfel, & Yi, 2006).
... surprisingly, they also have the lowest life expectancy of any ethnic group in the country. According to a study of Native Americans of the Southwest in an article published in the journal Public Library of Science, they had much shorter life spans than the general population. “Life expectancies…were 5.9 and 4.3 years lower…for males and females, respectively…”. Cause-of-death studies showed very high rates of diabetes. While it is true that eating a low fat, high fiber diet is healthy for everyone, it is especially true for Southwest Native Americans given these grim statistics and the probability they are carrying this “thrifty gene”. In light of these facts I believe an effort should be made to educate the Native Americans of the Southwest as to the importance of eating a low fat, high fiber diet. More than any other ethnic group, their lives depend upon it.
...I. "Indian Scientists Develop Insulin Pill for Diabetics." The Economic Times. Indiatimes.com, 20 Dec. 2013. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.
The circumstances the Native American people endured clarify their current issues. American Indians have poor education and a high percent are unemployed when equated to “U.S. all races” (Spector, 2009, p. 205). Many American Indians still live on reservations and work as a
Zimmet, P., K.G. Alberti, and J. Shaw.2001. Global and societal implications of the diabetes epidemic. Nature 414 (December 13): 782-86
Nazarko, L. (2009). Causes and consequences of diabetes. British Journal of Healthcare Assistants, 3(11), 534-538. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.