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PubMed2000

Invasive Haemophilus influenzae disease in Alaskan residents aged 10 years and older before and after infant vaccination programs.

CONTEXT: The introduction of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) vaccination of children has led to a decline in incidence of Hib disease in young Alaskan children. However, the impact of vaccination on unimmunized Alaskan adolescents and adults has not been studied. OBJECTIVE: To characterize trends in incidence of and mortality due to invasive H influenzae disease in Alaskan residents aged 10 years and older prior to and after the introduction of a statewide Hib infant vaccination program. DESIGN AND SETTING: Population-based, descriptive correlational study conducted 1980-1996 in Alaska. SUBJECTS: One hundred twenty-nine individuals (31 Alaska Natives and 98 nonnative Alaska residents) aged 10 years and older in whom H influenzae was cultured from a normally sterile site. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of H influenzae infection before (1980-1990) vs after (1991-1996) vaccination program initiation; serotype, biotype, and beta-lactamase production of isolates. RESULTS: The overall annual incidence of invasive H influenzae in those aged 10 years and older declined 33%, from 2.1 per 100,000 persons per year to 1.4 per 100,000 persons per year (P=. 03) after initiation of statewide infant Hib vaccination programs in 1991. This reduction appeared to be the result of a decrease in serotype b disease (82%; P<.001). Infection with other H influenzae serotypes and nontypeable strains increased from 0.5 per 100,000 persons per year to 1.1 per 100,000 persons per year (P=.01). Incidence declined from 4.2 per 100,000 persons per year to 1.2 per 100,000 persons per year in Alaska Natives (P=.005) and from 1.7 per 100,000 persons per year to 1.4 per 100,000 persons per year in nonnative Alaska residents (P=.37). Pneumonia (43%), sepsis (26%), and meningitis (16%) were the most common clinical presentations. Alcohol/drug abuse was comorbid in 15% of patients, while 13% of patients were pregnant women. beta-Lactamase production occurred in 35% of isolates and was stable throughout the surveillance. The overall case-fatality rate was 15%. CONCLUSION: The overall statewide incidence of invasive H influenzae infections in unimmunized persons aged 10 years and older decreased after the initiation of an infant Hib vaccine program, perhaps by decreasing Hib carriage in child reservoirs. An increase in non-serotype b strains was observed. This trend justifies the need for continued surveillance of invasive disease caused by H influenzae. JAMA. 2000.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2025

Biogeographic Structure and Mitonuclear Discordance Reveal Cryptic Diversity in Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasii).

Forage fishes are biological drivers throughout the Pacific Ocean, from the Arctic to nearly subtropical latitudes. As a critical trophic link, the health and stability of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) populations have implications for other marine species, including several targeted by large, productive fisheries. Previous research has indicated marked divergence between Pacific herring in the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska. Seeking to localize this biogeographic break, we generated low-coverage whole genome resequencing data for 120 Pacific herring from seven sites across the northern Gulf of Alaska and the eastern Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. Single nucleotide polymorphisms across the mitogenome (267) and nuclear genome (~5.6 million) corroborate a biogeographic break in Pacific herring along the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands, as far west as Unalaska. We identified two distinct populations: one exists along the northern coasts of the Aleutian Islands and in the eastern Bering Sea; the other occupies the southern edge of the Aleutians and the Gulf of Alaska. Two mitochondrial haplogroups co-occurring across the Gulf of Alaska suggest secondary contact between two populations, likely representing glacial refugia. Our results underscore the importance of geological events to contextualize the diversification of forage fish species.

Bering Sea↗
PubMed1993

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in pregnancy among Yup'ik Eskimos, 1987-1988.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in pregnancy in Yup'ik Eskimos. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: A retrospective review of consecutive birth-log data and medical records was conducted. Records were taken from the primary care and tertiary referral facilities in Alaska Area Native Health Service. Some 630 consecutive deliveries were reviewed from 1 March 1987 to 29 February 1988, with 25 excluded for ancestry other than Alaska Native. Another 605 Alaska Native patient charts were reviewed, with 545 Alaska Native patients screened for diabetes in pregnancy. The study population had a mean age of 25.6 yr, mean gravidity of 3.4, mean parity of 1.9, and mean birth weight of 3567 +/- 493 g. RESULTS: Patients were screened with a 50-g glucose oral load with a plasma glucose 1 h later. 156 of 605 (25.7%) patients, with a screen > or = 7.8 mM received a 100-g OGTT. Of 605, 35 (5.8%) patients met O'Sullivan criteria, and 2 of 605 (0.3%) patients met WHO criteria for previous diabetes mellitus, for a total 37 of 605 (6.7% [corrected]) women with diabetes in pregnancy. The subjects who met O'Sullivan criteria had statistically greater mean age (29.9 yr), gravidity (4.9), parity (2.9), and birth weight of their infants (3678 +/- 389 g), compared with women with a screen < 7.8 mM. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of diabetes in pregnancy among Yup'ik Eskimos is twice the rate for the U.S. for all races, despite the Yup'ik having the lowest rate of diabetes mellitus among Alaska Natives. This may represent a large number of undiagnosed patients with impaired glucose tolerance, and may reflect the wide-spread dietary and life-style changes that have occurred in the Yup'ik in the last 30 yr. The Yup'ik present a unique opportunity to apply prevention techniques in a population with an emerging problem with glucose tolerance.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Hepatitis B and hepatocellular carcinoma in Eskimo/Inuit population.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is major risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide. Serologic surveys performed in the 1970s and 1980s have demonstrated that Alaskan Eskimos, Canadian Inuit, and Greenland Inuit have very high prevalence rates of HBV. In Alaska, a high incidence of HCC in Eskimos, especially males, has been reported. Alaska Natives chronically infected with HBV have a relative risk of HCC of 148 compared to Alaska Natives who are not chronically infected. In Canada the incidence of HCC is six times more frequent in elderly Inuit than in Canadians in general. However, an elevated rate of HCC has not been found in Greenland. Primary prevention programs to prevent HCC by vaccination against HBV are being conducted in Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. In addition, in Alaska a program to detect HCC earlier by screening persons chronically infected with HBV, using semiannual alpha-fetoprotein testing, has resulted in detecting over 60% of HCC early enough for surgical resection.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Drowning in Alaskan waters.

OBJECTIVE: To enumerate drowning fatalities in Alaska in order to identify risk factors and areas for intervention. METHODS: Information from death certificates, state troopers' reports, and medical examiner reports were abstracted and analyzed. Rates were calculated using 1990 census figures as denominator data. RESULTS: There were 542 drowning fatalities in Alaska for the years 1988 to 1992. The 20-29 age group had the highest frequency and rate of drownings. The incidence rate for the state was 20 drownings per 100,000 population per year, almost 10 times higher than the overall U.S. rate of 2.11 per 100,000 per year. Incidence rates were highest among adolescent males (10-19), young adult males (20-29). Alaska Natives, and rural residents. Alaska Native males, ages 30-39 averaged 159 drownings per 100,000 per year, the highest drowning rates in the state. CONCLUSIONS: Drowning is a major public health concern in Alaska. People who fish commercially and young Native males are groups at high risk for drowning. Intervention efforts should be concentrated on these two populations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Soluble starch synthases and starch branching enzymes from cotyledons of smooth- and wrinkled-seeded lines of Pisum sativum L.

Soluble starch synthase and branching enzyme were purified from 18-day-old cotyledons of the smooth-seeded pea cultivar Alaska (RR) and wrinkled-seeded pea cultivar Progress #9 (rr) by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. Two coeluting peaks of primed and citrate-stimulated starch synthase activity and a major and minor peak of branching enzyme activity were observed in Alaska. However, in Progress #9, only one peak of synthase activity was found. When crude extracts of Progress #9 were centrifuged, over 70% of the starch synthase activity was recovered in the pelleted fraction, and additional washings of the pellet released no further activity. The addition of purified starch granules to Alaska crude extracts also resulted in the recovery of a greater proportion of synthase activity in pelleted fractions. The two peaks of branching enzyme activity in Alaska differed in their stimulation of phosphorylase, amylose branching activity, and activity in various buffers. The DEAE-cellulose profile of Progress #9 showed no distinct peak of branching enzyme and less than 10% of the total activity found in Alaska. The association of one form of soluble starch synthase with the pelleted fraction and the greatly reduced levels of branching enzyme provide a partial explanation for the appearance of high-amylose starch in Progress #9 cotyledons.

1,4-alpha-Glucan Branching Enzyme↗
PubMed2005

Chemical composition of arctic snow: concentration levels and regional distribution of major elements.

At the end of the northern winter 1996/1997, 21 snow samples were collected from 17 arctic localities in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Svalbard, Russia, Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Iceland. Major element concentrations of the filtered (0.45 mum) melted snow indicate that most samples are consistent with a diluted seawater composition. Deviations from this behaviour indicate additional SO(4)(2-) and Cl(-) relative to seawater, suggesting a minor contribution from (probably local) coal combustion emissions (Alaska, Finland, Sweden, Svalbard). The samples with the highest Na and Cl(-) content (Canada, Russia) also have higher Na/SO(4)(2-) and Cl(-)/SO(4)(2-) ratios than seawater, suggesting a slight contamination from (probably local) deicing activities. Local soil or rock dust inputs in the snow are indicated by 'excess' Ca contents (Alaska, Svalbard, Greenland, Sweden). No overall relationship was found between pH (range: 4.6-6.1) and total or non-seasalt SO(4)(2-) (NSS), suggesting that acidification due to long-range transport of SO(2) pollution is not operating on an arctic-wide scale. In a few samples (Alaska, Finland, Sweden, Svalbard), a significant proportion (>50%) of SO(4)(2-) is non-marine in origin. Sources for this non-marine SO(4)(2-) need not all be found in long-range atmospheric transport and more likely sources are local industry (Finland, Sweden), road traffic (Alaska) or minor snow-scooting traffic (one Svalbard locality). A few samples from northern Europe show a relatively weak trend of decreasing pH with increasing NO(3)(-).

Journal Article↗
PubMed2003

Cystic echinococcosis in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic.

The northern biotype of Echinococcus granulosus occurs throughout the holarctic zones of tundra and taiga, from eastern Fennoscandia to the Bering Strait in Eurasia and in North America from arctic Alaska approximately to the northern border of the United States. The cycle of the cestode is complex in taiga at lower latitudes, because of the greater diversity of potential hosts. In the Arctic and Subarctic, however, four patterns of predator/prey relationships may be discerned. Two natural cycles involve the wolf and wild reindeer and the wolf and elk (moose), respectively. Where deer of the two species coexist, both are prey of the wolf; the interactions of the wolf and elk are here described on the basis of long-term observations made on Isle Royale (in Lake Superior near the southern limit of taiga), where only the wolf and elk serve as hosts for E. granulosus. A synanthropic cycle involving herding-dogs and domesticated reindeer caused hyperendemicity of cystic echinococcosis in arctic Eurasia, mainly in northeastern Siberia. The 4th pattern, a semi-synanthropic cycle, formerly existed in Alaska, wherein sled-dogs of the indigenous hunters became infected by consuming the lungs of wild reindeer. The sequence of changes in life-style inherent in the process of acculturation affected the occurrence of cystic echinococcosis among nomadic Iñupiat in arctic Alaska. When those people became sedentary, the environs of their early villages soon became severely contaminated by faeces of dogs, and cases of cystic echinococcosis occurred. Compared to cystic echinococcosis caused by E. granulosus adapted to synanthropic hosts (dog and domestic ungulates), the infection produced by the northern biotype is relatively benign. Nearly all diagnosed cases of cystic echinococcosis (> 300) in Alaska have occurred in indigenous people; only one fatality has been recorded (in a non-indigenous person). After sled-dogs were replaced by machines, cases have become rare in Alaska. A similar effect has been observed in Fennoscandia, in the Saami and domesticated reindeer. Recent records indicate that the prevalence of cystic echinococcosis is increasing in Russia, suggesting that dogs are used there in herding.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

Genetic variation in caribou and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus).

Genetic variation at seven microsatellite DNA loci was quantified in 19 herds of wild caribou and domestic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) from North America, Scandinavia and Russia. There is an average of 2.0-6.6 alleles per locus and observed individual heterozygosity of 0.33-0.50 in most herds. A herd on Svalbard Island, Scandinavia, is an exception, with relatively few alleles and low heterozygosity. The Central Arctic, Western Arctic and Porcupine River caribou herds in Alaska have similar allele frequencies and comprise one breeding population. Domestic reindeer in Alaska originated from transplants from Siberia, Russia, more than 100 years ago. Reindeer in Alaska and Siberia have different allele frequencies at several loci, but a relatively low level of genetic differentiation. Wild caribou and domestic reindeer in Alaska have significantly different allele frequencies at the seven loci, indicating that gene flow between reindeer and caribou in Alaska has been limited.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Foodborne botulism in the United States, 1990-2000.

Foodborne botulism, a potentially lethal neuroparalytic disease, is caused by ingesting preformed Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin. We reviewed surveillance data and reports from 1990 to 2000. Of 263 cases from 160 foodborne botulism events (episode of one or more related cases) in the United States, 103 (39%) cases and 58 events occurred in Alaska. Patients' median age was 48 years; 154 (59%) were female; the case-fatality rate was 4%. The median number of cases per event was 1 (range 1-17). Toxin type A caused 51% of all cases; toxin type E caused 90% of Alaska cases. A particular food was implicated in 126 (79%) events. In the lower 49 states, a noncommercial food item was implicated in 70 (91%) events, most commonly home-canned vegetables (44%). Two restaurant-associated outbreaks affected 25 persons. All Alaska cases were attributable to traditional Alaska Native foods. Botulism prevention efforts should be focused on those who preserve food at home, Alaska Natives, and restaurant workers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Native Americans' cancer rates in comparison with other peoples of color.

BACKGROUND: The National Cancer Institute developed population-specific programs to better understand cancer as it occurs within underserved populations such as American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and American Samoans. METHODS: The data for American Samoans are derived from regional studies and from data collected from the Hawaii Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Registry. Native Hawaiian data are from the Hawaii SEER program and are limited to Native Hawaiians who live in that state. Alaska Native data are from the Lanier and Knutson 15-year summary of Alaska Native cancer data. American Indian data are from the New Mexico SEER program, which is generalizable to natives living in Arizona and New Mexico only and is relatively free of racial misclassification errors. RESULTS: An overview of age-adjusted cancer incidence and mortality rates among American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, African Americans, and whites for 1977-1983 is provided. Five-year relative survival rates from cancer are from 1975-1984. Relative survival rates are provided for American Indians, Native Hawaiians, African Americans, and whites. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the limited data available, divergent cancer patterns appear to be present in these Native American populations. Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians consistently display elevated rates that are frequently camouflaged when data are collapsed into "other" racial categories.

Black or African American↗
PubMed2006

Development of a murre (Uria spp.) egg control material.

The Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP) is a collaborative Alaska-wide effort by the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS/AMNWR), the US Geological Survey's Biological Resources Division (USGS/BRD), the Bureau of Indian Affairs Alaska Region Subsistence Branch (BIA/ARSB), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to monitor long-term (decadal) trends in environmental contaminants using seabird eggs. To support this effort, a matrix- (seabird egg) and concentration-specific control material was needed to ensure quality during analytical work. Although a herring gull egg quality assurance (HGQA) material is available from Environment Canada (EC), contaminant concentrations in this material tended to be higher than those observed in Alaskan murre (Uria spp.) eggs. Therefore, to prepare a more appropriate control material, a total of 12 common murre (U. aalge) and thick-billed murre (U. lomvia) eggs from four Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska nesting locations were cryohomogenized to create 190 aliquots each containing approximately 6 g. This new control material was analyzed by different methods at NIST and EC facilities for the determination of concentrations and value assignment of 63 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, 20 organochlorine pesticides, and 11 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) congeners. The total PCB concentration is approximately 58 ng g(-1) wet mass. Results obtained for analytes not listed on the certificates of analysis of the previously used control materials, HGQA and NIST's Standard Reference Material (SRM) 1946 Lake Superior Fish Tissue, are also presented.

Alaska↗
PubMed2005

Mercury concentrations in muscle, brain and bone of Western Alaskan waterfowl.

Total mercury (THg), which includes both inorganic (Hg(2+)) and methylmercury (MeHg) species, has been reported for seabirds in the North Pacific and Alaska. For the Yup'ik and Aleut people of Alaska, waterfowl are a small but important seasonal component of the diet, but many Alaskan species have not been studied extensively for the presence of mercury. Birds are good subjects for examination of mercury concentrations because they feed at different trophic levels, they can be long-lived, and many are both abundant and widely distributed. In this study, we present the levels of mercury in muscle, brain, and bone tissue of 140 birds taken by subsistence food users across Western Alaska. THg wet weight mean concentrations in the 18 species of waterfowl surveyed ranged from 0.8 to 268.6 ng/g in muscle, from 0.4 to 197.7 ng/g in brain and from 0.7 to 422.9 ng/g in bone. The null hypothesis that there are no interspecific differences in the level of total mercury in the 18 species of Alaska birds surveyed was not supported. We found interspecific differences with the Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis), and the Black Scoter (Melanitta nigra), having the highest muscle tissue levels of THg. In general, THg mean levels were higher in muscle than in brain with the exceptions of the Bar-tailed Godwit and Northern Shoveler. Bone THg were highest in the Black Scoter. The mean values for THg in the species studied are unlikely to cause adverse reproductive or behavioral effects in the birds.

Alaska↗
PubMed1997

Organochlorine contaminants in blubber of four seal species: integrating biomonitoring and specimen banking.

Blubber samples from four Alaska seal species (bearded seal, Erignathus barbatus, harbor seal, Phoca vitulina, northern fur seal, Callorhinus ursinus, ringed seal, P. hispida) were collected for inclusion in the US National Biomonitoring Specimen Bank, as well as for immediate analysis as part of the contaminant monitoring component of the US National Marine Fisheries Service's Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program. The blubber samples were analyzed for organochlorine (OC) contaminants (e.g., PCB congeners, pesticides, DDTs). Results for bearded and ringed seals from the Alaska Arctic revealed low blubber concentrations of OC contaminants. Harbor seals from Prince William Sound. Gulf of Alaska, had somewhat higher blubber concentrations of OC contaminants. In contrast, northern fur seals sampled from the Pribilof Islands had blubber concentrations of certain OC contaminants that were about an order of magnitude higher than those found in the other seal species. Differences in contaminant concentrations among the Alaska seals may be explained by differences in feeding habits and migratory patterns, age or gender did not appear to account for the differences observed. The highest concentrations of OCs were found in harbor seals stranded along the northwestern US mainland, which is consistent with higher concentrations of anthropogenic contaminants being found in urban coastal areas than in more remote Arctic environments. The integration of real-time contaminant monitoring with specimen banking provides important baseline data that can be used to plan and manage banking activities. This includes identifying appropriate specimens that are useful in assessing temporal trends and increasing the utility of the banked samples in assessing chemical contaminant accumulation and relationships to biological effects.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed2006

Murre eggs (Uria aalge and Uria lomvia) as indicators of mercury contamination in the Alaskan marine environment.

Sixty common murre (Uria aalge) and 27 thick-billed murre (Uria lomvia) eggs collected by the Seabird Tissue Archival and Monitoring Project (STAMP) in 1999-2001 from two Gulf of Alaska and three Bering Sea nesting colonies were analyzed for total mercury (Hg) using isotope dilution cold vapor inductively coupled mass spectrometry. Hg concentrations (wet mass) ranged from 0.011 microg/g to 0.357 microg/g (relative standard deviation = 76%), while conspecifics from the same colonies and years had an average relative standard deviation of 33%. Hg levels in eggs from the Gulf of Alaska (0.166 microg/g +/- 0.011 microg/g) were significantly higher (p < 0.0001) than in the Bering Sea (0.047 microg/g +/- 0.004 microg/g). Within the Bering Sea, Hg was significantly higher (p = 0.0007) in eggs from Little Diomede Island near the arctic than at the two more southern colonies. Although thick-billed and common murres are ecologicallysimilar,there were significant species differences in egg Hg concentrations within each region (p < 0.0001). In the Bering Sea, eggs from thick-billed murres had higher Hg concentrations than eggs from common murres, while in the Gulf of Alaska, common murre eggs had higher concentrations than those of thick-billed murres. A separate one-way analysis of variance on the only time-trend data currently available for a colony (St. Lazaria Island in the Gulf of Alaska) found significantly lower Hg concentrations in common murre eggs collected in 2001 compared to 1999 (p = 0.017). Results from this study indicate that murre eggs may be effective monitoring units for detecting geographic, species, and temporal patterns of Hg contamination in marine food webs. The relatively small intracolony variation in egg Hg levels and the ability to consistently obtain adequate sample sizes both within and among colonies over a large geographic range means that monitoring efforts using murre eggs will have suitable statistical power for detecting environmental patterns of Hg contamination. The potential influences of trophic effects, physical transport patterns, and biogeochemical processes on these monitoring efforts are discussed, and future plans to investigate the sources of the observed variability are presented.

Alaska↗
PubMed1992

Prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in circumpolar indigenous populations.

The prevalence of diagnosed diabetes in several genetically closely related indigenous populations in the circumpolar arctic and subarctic regions of Russia, Alaska and Canada is compared. The age-standardized (to the IARC's hypothetical world population) prevalence ranged from 1.8/1000 among the Chukchi and Eskimo of Chukotka, 3.6 and 7.9/1000 among the Eskimos/Inuit of the Canadian Northwest Territories (NWT) and Alaska respectively, 7.1, 9.3 and 18.6/1000 among Athapaskan Indians in the NWT, Yukon and Alaska respectively, to a high of 22.7/1000 among the Aleuts in Alaska. All are below the US all-race prevalence of 23.5/1000 and far below the extreme high prevalence reported from many North American Indian tribes. As a group, such arctic and subarctic peoples have a much shorter and less intense history of European contact and acculturation. Environmental factors are also likely to be responsible for the current differences between these indigenous populations in the circumpolar region, assuming that they share susceptibility genes for diabetes inferred from their close genetic relationships based on markers in other loci. Formal surveys of glucose tolerance and potential risk factors such as diet, physical activity, obesity, insulin resistance and genetic admixture in the circumpolar region would improve knowledge of the aetiology of diabetes in genetically and culturally diverse human populations.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

A signal for independent coastal and continental histories among North American wolves.

Relatively little genetic variation has been uncovered in surveys across North American wolf populations. Pacific Northwest coastal wolves, in particular, have never been analysed. With an emphasis on coastal Alaska wolf populations, variation at 11 microsatellite loci was assessed. Coastal wolf populations were distinctive from continental wolves and high levels of diversity were found within this isolated and relatively small geographical region. Significant genetic structure within southeast Alaska relative to other populations in the Pacific Northwest, and lack of significant correlation between genetic and geographical distances suggest that differentiation of southeast Alaska wolves may be caused by barriers to gene flow, rather than isolation by distance. Morphological research also suggests that coastal wolves differ from continental populations. A series of studies of other mammals in the region also has uncovered distinctive evolutionary histories and high levels of endemism along the Pacific coast. Divergence of these coastal wolves is consistent with the unique phylogeographical history of the biota of this region and re-emphasizes the need for continued exploration of this biota to lay a framework for thoughtful management of southeast Alaska.

Alaska↗
PubMed1988

Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Alaskan Eskimos, Indians, and Aleuts.

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Alaska Natives has been thought to be low, but no survey of this condition in all natives has been conducted. Medical records from 1979 to 1985 were reviewed to determine the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes mellitus in Alaska Natives. Computerized outpatient and inpatient medical record data and clinician reports were used to identify cases. As of December 1985, 610 living Alaska Natives fulfilled diagnostic criteria for diabetes. Type II diabetes mellitus was found in 564 subjects, type I diabetes was found in 15 subjects, and unspecified type of diabetes was found in 31 subjects. The overall age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes mellitus, 15.7/1000, was lower than the overall United States rate of 24.7/1000. However, age-adjusted prevalence varied considerably by ethnic group; the prevalence was 27.2/1000 among Aleuts, 22.0/1000 among Alaskan Indians, and 8.8/1000 among Alaskan Eskimos. Rates within the Eskimo subgroups varied by a factor of four. Compared with previous reports, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in Alaskan Eskimos appears to have increased. Diabetes mellitus is no longer a rare condition among Alaska Natives.

Alaska↗