Cuthand: Indigenous lives depend on diabetes prevention and treatment

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It is said that heroes are ordinary people in extraordinary situations.

Someone runs into a burning house to save a life, or swims out to a drowning person. These are acts of heroism that occur at the spur of the moment. But what if you have time to think it over?

When Jim Searson learned that his aunt Monica needed a kidney or she wouldn’t survive, he stepped up and donated his own. That’s a special kind of heroism. He had a chance to think it over and form his own conclusion, and he did the right thing.

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This act of heroism is needed more than ever, since kidney disease is growing rapidly in Indian Country.

A large proportion of kidney disease is a product of diabetes, which is our modern-day epidemic in Indian Country. According to the Diabetes Canada website, five per cent of the general population has diabetes; among off-reserve Indigenous people the rate is two and a half times higher, at 12.7 per cent, and on-reserve people have a rate that is three and a half times higher, at 17.2 per cent.

Diabetes is the elephant in the room and the source of a wide variety of afflictions including heart disease, blindness, nerve damage, amputations, and kidney disease. Diabetes is a disease that is surging in Indian Country and shows no sign of abatement.

We need to attack this scourge on two fronts: prevention and treatment.

For generations, our people lived within the boreal forest of the great plains. Our diet was high in protein from buffalo, moose, fish and fowl, supplemented with berries and natural root vegetables in season.

Diabetes was practically unknown until the later part of the 20th century, when gradually foods with a high degree of starch and sugar began to seep into the Indigenous diet. Today, we see the results.

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We need to address diet — processed foods and high amounts of sugar in drinks and candy. People need to check the ingredients listed on product labels. Sugar is used in a wide variety of products and sometimes sneaks in unnoticed. Foods such as bannock, potatoes and pasta also contain high amounts of starch, which the body converts to sugar or stores as fat.

There is a need for more First Nations nutritionists and dietitians. Education is key, and our people can play an important role in educating parents and the children. Today, obesity is a serious problem and a direct cause of diabetes.

We need to look at the growing numbers of on-reserve stores and reduce the size of sugar-loaded drinks and junk food. We need to eliminate overconsumption of junk food and provide alternatives — bottled water, fresh fruit, and a return to a traditional low-fat, high-protein diet.

The Inuit rate of diabetes is under five per cent, reflecting their continued traditional diet and lifestyle.

Many diabetes sufferers end up on dialysis, which for reserve-based Indigenous people is a version of hell. Many must travel three or four hours two or three times a week to a dialysis machine in an unban hospital. These are expensive machines to purchase and run. They require specialized staff, and only a Limited number exist in the province. Dialysis normally takes about four hours, so travel and treatment from the reserve to home can consume 12 hours.

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Once an individual is on dialysis, the only “cure” is a kidney transplant. This is where the importance of donors comes in.

In Saskatchewan we have the option to place a tissue and organ donor sticker on our health card. This allows medical personnel to remove organs in case of an accidental death. They don’t need approval from the family, which takes up valuable time during an emergency.

In the case of a kidney transplant, a healthy person can live successfully with only one kidney. Therefore, if you have a loved one who needs a kidney transplant to survive, you should seriously consider donating a kidney and giving the gift of life.

I have the sticker on my health card, and when I go, my body will be one big bargain bin. Take what you need; I won’t need it.

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