American Indians and health professionals congregated in Oklahoma City last week to attend a four-day conference on diabetes prevention. As you may know, American Indians suffer from Type 2 diabetes at astronomical rates, and this is a cause of great concern for tribal leaders and for government and medical experts on the nation's health.

I was unable to find a website on the conference detailing exactly what happened and what was said. Oklahoma news station KTEN did create a brief report on the event, however, saying that speakers at the conference emphasized the urgent need for lifestyle changes in the form of weight loss, healthy eating and incorporating daily exercise into peoples' lives. The conference was sponsored by the Indian Health Service (a division of the US Department of Health and Human Services) and the Oklahoma Native American EXPORT Center.

UPDATE August 31: Okay, I tried to add a comment, but was unable for some weird computer-related reason. But it's my understanding that while genetics does play a role in who does and who doesn't get certain diseases, Type 2 diabetes is still largely determined by lifestyle. Until they figure out the role of genetics a little better, it's best to focus on lifestyle because at least that's something you can do something about! By the way, I see a new article has just come out in The New York Times on the subject of genetics and aging. Follow this link to read all about it.

It's often said that Native Americans suffer from diabetes at rates disproportionate to the general population. A case study of just how bad the problem is can be found in a profile of the Potawatomi Indians of the Midwest and Canada, as reported in this week's Kalamazoo Gazette. In the feature, a member of Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi estimated that one in four of the 2,700-member tribe has diabetes.

Here's a measure of how badly this is affecting the people: the Pokagon Band last year agreed to reduce the qualifying age to be an elder from sixty-five to fifty-five. The reason? You guessed it. The diabetes problem means more members are dying before they reach their sixties. Another sign of the impact of diabetes: blind and amputee vendors working craft and jewelry stands at the recent annual Potawatomi gathering in Michigan. "It's almost catastrophic," says a tribal council member.

A local health department official is quoted in the article expressing the concern of health officials and saying that efforts to combat the spread of the disease are ongoing, and include education programs for the community.

Pictured: a traditional Potawatomi design.