Friendship centre association hosts conference on diabetes and Aboriginal peoples

During the two-day Alberta Conference on Diabetes and Aboriginal Peoples, participants were armed with information to help fight off the diabetes epidemic that persists on and off reserve.

"I hope that the participants leave the conference knowing that the tools of eliminating this epidemic do exist and it's just a matter of now knowing where and how to get to these services," said Daniel Thut, diabetes initiative co-ordinator for the Alberta Native Friendship Centres Association (ANFCA).
About 300 Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal health care providers, service providers, and those people affected or interested in improving their understanding and prevention of diabetes in Aboriginal people attended this year's conference on March 2 and 3 in Edmonton. It was the second such conference hosted by the association.

This year, the conference focused on type 2 diabetes in three concurrent workshops: one provided basic information for individuals with little knowledge of diabetes, one was held for service providers, and one for researchers. There was about 20 sessions open to all participants, which covered topics such as clinical and community perspectives of the diabetes epidemic, new and emerging treatments and medications, project sharing, workshops for healthy living, networking, current research on type 2 diabetes, and topics specific to the cultural aspects of the illness.

"There [was] a focus mainly on type 2 diabetes because in Aboriginal communities they are up to five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than the national average," said Thut. "It's growing because of the transition from their traditional lifestyle to this more westernized lifestyle of fast foods and also because many of these people are living in remote areas and don't have the same services as say someone living in the city."

According to information from the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) Web site, type 2 diabetes happens when the body cannot produce enough insulin or does not use the insulin it makes properly. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas. Although anyone can develop diabetes, specifically type 2, the Web site identifies some factors that put people at a greater risk. Those factors include people who are age 40 or over, are overweight, have a family member who has diabetes, have had gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy), or are members of a high-risk population, including people of Aboriginal, Hispanic, Asian, South Asian, African descent.

The CDA Web site lists ways of avoiding or delaying the onset of diabetes through eating healthy, which means targeting a low-calorie meal plan with reduced fat intake, and to keep active.

The CDA points out that being aware of your risk and being tested is vitally important.
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If not looked after properly, diabetes can result in heart, kidney and eye disease, impotence and nerve damage.

"Like type 2 diabetes, people can have pre-diabetes without knowing it, so being aware of your risk and being tested are important," the CDA believes. The risk for diabetes is higher as we grow older, so the CDA recommends screening for diabetes by testing glucose levels for everyone once they reach the age of 40, and every three years after that. More frequent testing, or an earlier start to regular screening, should be considered for those who have risk factors that increase the likelihood they may develop type 2 diabetes.

For more information about diabetes visit the CDA Web site at www.diabetes.ca.