Puget Sound Traditional Food and Diabetes
Collaborative research between tribal members, health
care workers and archaeologists
Diabetes Facts
Diabetes in the US
- Type 2
diabetes accounts for 90-95% of all diabetes
- About
16 million people in the US had type 2 diabetes in 2002
- At
least 5 million more are undiagnosed
- Between
1991 and 2001, overall diabetes rate in US increased from 4.9% to 7.9%, an
increase of 61% in ten years
- Diabetes
is now the 5th leading cause of death in the US
- Diabetes
caused deaths are probably underreported
- Diabetes
is leading cause of blindness and kidney failure, and a primary cause of
heart disease, stroke, gum disease, and amputations
Diabetes in Native American Populations
- Native
Americans have the highest risk for diabetes of all ethnic groups in the US
- Diabetes
levels range from over 25% (nearly 4 times rate for non-Native people) in
the southeastern and southwestern regions of the US, to 8.2% for Alaska
- Pacific
Northwest Native American rate is about 14%, more than twice the
percentage in non-Native populations
Causes and Treatment of type 2 diabetes
- Causes
remain poorly understood, but appear to have both genetic and
environmental factors
- Type 2
diabetes is statistically associated with obesity and low levels of
physical activity
- Unlike
type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes can often be controlled with changes in
diet, weight loss and exercise
Sources:
National
Diabetes Information Clearinghouse;
Burrows, Nilka Ríos (2002) Prevalence
of diagnosed diabetes among American Indians and Alaska Natives, National
Headquarters Diabetes Program,
Indian Health Service and Division of Diabetes Translation, National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention