American Indians and Alaskan Natives At High Risk For Diabetes

Filed in archive Lifestyle on July 27, 2006

We all need to pay attention to our health, especially since the diabetes epidemic is so powerful. But some groups of people need to be especially vigilante. Especially, a new study finds, American Indians and Alaskan natives.

American Indians and Alaska natives on average are more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites in the United States to have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As John Warren looked around the different tents where crafts and jewelry were on sale on Thursday, the council member at-large for the Pokagon Band said he could see the effects of diabetes on the tribe. Some vendors were amputees; others had lost their sight from the disease.

``It's almost catastrophic,'' Warren said. ``Internally, it's one of our biggest killers.''

Although researchers cannot say for sure what makes some cultures more prone to the disease, they urge those especially susceptible to take extra precautions, such as a healthy diet and increased exercise.

Good advice we can all follow.

(Photo Source: Census Bureau)