Diabetes Epidemic in James Bay Cree Communities
OTTAWA, May 3 /CNW/ - A paper just published in Canadian Medical
Association Journal is further evidence that the James Bay Crees face a
diabetes epidemic of unprecedented proportions.
This is the most serious
health problem ever to face a First Nation in Canada.
The paper, ``Prevalence
of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Among James Bay Cree Women in Northern
Quebec''
(Canadian Medical Association Journal, vol. 160, No. 9, 4 May 1999),
authored by Shaila Rodrigues, Elizabeth Robinson, and Katherine Gray-Donald,
documents diabetes amongst pregnant Crees as 13%, double that of the general
population and the second highest Aboriginal level worldwide.
The Province of
Quebec refuses to acknowledge the extent and severity of the problem.
Upon reviewing the paper, Grand Chief Matthew Coon-Come commented: ``The
human costs of unrestrained development on our traditional territory, whether
in the form of massive hydroelectric development or irresponsible forestry
operations, are no surprise to us. Diabetes has followed the destruction of
our traditional way of life and the imposition of a welfare economy. Now we
see that one in seven pregnant Cree women is sick with this disease, and our
children are being born high risk or actually sick.''
We already know that one in three Crees aged 55-59 has a form of
diabetes. There is good reason to think that half of the over-45 Cree
population has it. The diagnosed case load, now about 800 of all age groups,
is growing 10% per year. However, the new paper on gestational diabetes adds
to previous research indicating that the diabetic population among the Crees
is increasingly young. Overall, the incidence of diabetes among Cree young
people is unprecedented and alarming.
But only a fraction of the Cree population has been tested. A full
population screening is needed but Quebec has shown no interest in funding
what is bound to be bad news. The data on hand strongly suggests a minimum
affliction rate of 20% to 30% of the whole Cree population.
A third of diabetic Crees show advanced, permanent damage. Since 1996,
several dozen Crees have died or are dying from the disease. Of the diagnosed
cases, 10% have eye damage, 10% blood vessel damage, 8% nerve damage, and 17%
kidney damage.
The Cree Board of Health and Social Services owns two kidney
dialysis machines with another on the way as a result of a 1300-kilometer
fundraising walk by concerned Cree people. Much more is needed but there is
no funding.
ADULT TYPE OF DIABETES RISING DRAMATICALLY IN KIDS AND TEENS
Study No. 1
A study by the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Medicine evaluated 82
First Nation Cree children (age 6 to 17 years) who have been diagnosed with
type 2 diabetes since 1981. Comparing five-year periods ending in 1985 and
1998, the mean number of referred cases increased from 0.8 per year to 8.4 per
year - a 200 per cent increase in the number of children seen with the
disease.
``However, because screening picks up ten times more children than the
referred case procedure which produced these 82 cases, we must assume that
type 2 diabetes is being very much under-diagnosed in youngsters,'' said
Heather Dean, MD, professor of pediatrics at the university.
She urged that community diabetes screening programs in high risk groups
include children in order to define the true prevalence of the disease and
initiate early intervention strategies.
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