Which ethnic group is at the greatest risk for developing diabetes? If you answered Native American Indians, you are correct.

Over the past fifteen years, the number of cases of diabetes in American Indian and Alaskan Native teens aged 15 to 19 has risen by 128 percent. On top of that, the disease increased by 77 percent in American Indians and Alaskan Natives who were younger than fifteen during the same time frames. As for adults -- the current rate of diabetes in this population is at 60 percent. Feel free to read that again. That's a rise by 128 percent in 15 to 19-year-olds, 77 percent in kids under 15, and a current rate of 60 perecent of adults living with diabetes. In a word: Staggering. In two words: Freakin' Staggering. In seventeen words: So freakin' staggering that I had to make sure that the data was correct -- and it was.

A program that has established diabetes treatment and prevention programs is slated to expire some time next year. Given these statistics, this does not bode well for the members of this minority group. Meeting before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee this past Thursday, Indian Health Service head Charles Grim spoke of the importance of renewing this program.

For more information, follow this link: http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/americanindian/

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.

The Chicksaw and Choctaw nations are officially joining in the fight against diabetes. The tribes announced they will send millions in donations to the Oklahoma Diabetes Center and to the University of Oklahoma diabetes research and clinical care programs. Details include millions to fund chair and faculty positions. Administrators at the Oklahoma Diabetes Center and the University of Oklahoma say the extra funding will help them to make their institutions leading centers of diabetes research.

The disease has hit Native American communities particularly hard, with researchers still trying to figure out for sure why the incidence of diabetes in Native American communities is so much higher than for the general population.

Pictured, for those of you who (like me!) are interested, is a Choctaw tribe member in the guise of a wolf, an animal that takes an important place in Choctaw legend and culture.