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Subject: 'DIPITY Fwd: Tribe Losing Battle Vs. Diabetes
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Date: Mon, 1 Nov 1999 02:35:51 EST
Subject: Tribe Losing Battle Vs. Diabetes
Tribe Losing Battle Vs. Diabetes
.c The Associated Press
GILA RIVER INDIAN COMMUNITY, Ariz. (AP) - Amputations and blindness are commonplace,
and dialysis is a way of life.
The spread of diabetes among the 11,500 Pima Indians on this reservation south of
Phoenix has become so severe some worry about annihilation - and others claim
government researchers contributed to the problem.
``Thirty years of research for what?'' Franklin Jackson, a community leader, said in
The Arizona Republic on Sunday. ``What did we get for all of this? We were human
guinea pigs. They've just been watching diabetes take its course, but the people here
have been hoping for a cure.''
Since 1965, the number of tribal members over 55 with diabetes has skyrocketed to 80
percent from 45 percent, according to figures compiled by the National Institutes of
Health.
Now, some Pimas are claiming that same government agency didn't do enough to attack
what they call the ``Pima Plague.''
Officials with the NIH say they never misled the Pimas or promised them a cure during
years of studies.
But dozens of interviews and government records show that the agency made critical
decisions in the late 1970s and early 1980s that set back the fight against diabetes
by at least a decade, the newspaper reported.
The NIH reportedly decided to focus its resources on Type 1 diabetes, even though that
form affects none of the Pimas. Type 1, commonly referred to as juvenile diabetes,
affects mostly whites. The Pimas suffer from Type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes.
While NIH scientists did study the origins of Type 2 diabetes among the Pimas, they
allegedly put off testing methods of prevention until just three years ago. That
decision forced the key researcher on the Pima project to test Type 2 prevention
methods elsewhere because the NIH would not fund the experiment among the Pimas, the
newspaper said.
Dr. Phillip Gorden, a director of the diabetes research branch of the NIH, defended
the decision, saying the Type 1 study was more manageable and that new technology had
just become available for testing.
Michael Mawby, the American Diabetes Association's vice president for governmental
relations, believes the agency had a moral obligation to do more to help the Pimas.
``As the impact of diabetes was uncovered in the Native American community and in the
Pimas in particular, there was a responsibility of the federal government to take more
aggressive steps to address the problem, and they haven't done that,'' he said.
The tribe blames the spread of diabetes on dramatic changes in their lifestyles and
diets, which had been stable for centuries. Cholla cactus buds and jackrabbit have
been replaced by fatty, processed foods. Since hunting and farming have declined, so
has exercise.
Obesity, a major risk factor, among the Pimas is growing. It is not unusual for Pima
kindergartners to weigh more than 75 pounds and adults more than 300.
``I shock my people by saying that if we don't get this in check now, we'll become an
extinct people 75 years from now,'' said retiring Pima Gov. Mary Thomas, herself a
diabetic.
AP-NY-11-01-99 0235EST
Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine
of international copyright law.
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Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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