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Muskogee Phoenix
Living Well
Some groups more prone to diabetes By Cathy Spaulding Phoenix Staff Writer
Whether through genetics or lifestyle, some groups are more prone to certain diseases than others. Researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed Native Americans, African Americans and Hispanic/Latino Americans among ethnic groups especially prone to Type 2 diabetes. Type 2, the most common form of
diabetes, occurs when the body does not use insulin properly. Health officials with the Cherokee Nation see such a prevalence throughout northeast Oklahoma. Cherokee Nation Health Services treats more than 10,000 Native American patients for diabetes at W.W. Hastings Hospital and eight health centers. Cherokee Nation Diabetes Program Director Teresa Chaudoin said
FYI • For information on the Cherokee Nation Diabetes Prevention Program: (918) 453-5473.
genetics could play a part in such prevalence. “There is the theory of the ‘thrifty gene,’” she said. “In the history of a people, when food is plentiful, our bodies became good at storing food, so we could survive when food was scarce.” According to CDC literature, that “thrifty” gene could put some groups at higher risk of diabetes. However, lifestyle and diet also could be factors, Chaudoin said. She cited literature that says prevalence of diabetes grew when populations went from agrarian to industrial economies. “Diabetes wasn’t common among Cherokees until the 1940s,” Chaudoin said. “My grand-dad in the 1930s ran a road grader between Muskogee and Tahlequah, and it was pulled by a team of horses.” “And a lot is diet,” she said. “There are certain tribes in Mexico and Arizona, and the Mexicans in the tribe have a lower prevalence of diabetes.” CDC literature also cited poverty and lack of access to health care as other barriers minorities face in preventing or coping with diabetes. The Cherokee Nation’s Diabetes Program helps give patients information they need to control their diabetes. Chaudoin said the program works indi(See GROUPS, Page 3)
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by the diabetes epidemic is increasing. In the U.S., 7 million people are undiagnosed, and 79 million people have prediabetes. As the epidemic increases, so does the importance of diagnosis. Physicians can test patients for diabetes by monitoring their blood glucose or blood sugar levels. Three lab tests are used to help diagnose and monitor diabetes. These tests are the hemoglobin A1C, fasting glucose, and twohour glucose challenge. “The hemoglobin A1C is becoming the more prevalent lab test for the diagnosis of diabetes and for the follow-up management of diabetes,” Beebe said. The hemoglobin A1C test
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provides information about a person’s average levels of blood glucose or blood sugar, over the past 90 days in a percentage. “We like to see that at less than a 7 percent or close to a 6.5 percent,” Beebe said. Certain symptoms can indicate a possible risk of diabetes or prediabetes. Those include increased symptoms of frequent urination, increased thirst, increased hunger with weight loss, and fatigue. Beebe said the symptoms can be subtle, but if they coincide with a family history, a mother, father or first relative with diabetes, that would be indication for doctors to screen for diabetes. The fasting glucose test would be an adequate test to run for someone without a family history and without symptoms. “The general rule is that
screening for diabetes is common and usually we start at the age of 35,” Beebe said. The fasting glucose and the two-hour glucose challenge test are not as popular as they once were. The hemoglobin A1C test is the primary test doctors use because of the test’s accuracy. “We have really come a long way with the start or the use of the hemoglobin A1C,” Beebe said. Being in a family practice and becoming close to patients in the community has made Beebe an advocate for early diagnosis. Making good choices and taking control is the key to success, “so that you control the diabetes, and the diabetes as a chronic disease does not take over you and control you,” Beebe said. Reach E.I. Hillin at (918) 684-2926 or ehillin @muskogeephoenix.com.