Speaker Abstract

Prevalence and Impact of Diabetes in a Canadian Native Community: The Sandy Lake Health and Diabetes Project

Bernard Zinman, MDCM and Stewart Harris, MD, SLRI, Mount Sinai Hospital, U of T, Toronto M5G 1X5.

The global epidemic of Type 2 diabetes has had a particularly devastating impact on Canada's native community. The first nation community of Sandy Lake, Ontario was acutely aware of this fact and formed a collaboration with a multidisciplinary health care team to both better define the extent of this problem and ultimately to establish effective community based and culturally appropriate intervention strategies. The prevalence of diabetes in Sandy Lake is five times the national average and affects children, adolescents, and young adults of both genders. A change from traditional lifestyle to a sedentary reservation existence with the consumption of a high fat diet are the major contributors to this metabolic epidemic. The hormonal, metabolic, nutritional and lifestyle characteristics associated with abnormal glucose tolerance in the community have now been carefully characterized and the impact on cardiovascular risk factors is substantial. In conclusion: the Sandy Lake Health and Diabetes Project has documented the consequences of lifestyle changes on metabolic outcomes. It is imperative that appropriate intervention strategies be implemented before the full impact of these effects are felt on the community and health care system. Supported by Health Canada, Ontario Ministry of Health, NIH, and CDA.