Living well with diabetes in Alaska.

Many people with diabetes mellitus experience minimal or no complications. Our objective was to determine the proportion of Alaska Native people who experienced four major complications or mortality and to identify factors that may be associated with these outcomes. We used records in a diabetes registry and clinical and demographic variables in our analyses.

Diabetes prevalence, incidence, complications and mortality among Alaska Native people 1985-2006.

Objectives: To examine trends in diabetes prevalence, incidence, complications and mortality between 1985 and 2006 among Alaska Native people.

Study Design: We used data from the population-based Alaska Native Diabetes Registry, which includes all people who receive care in the Alaska Tribal Health System.

Methods: We compared the periods of 1986-1990 and 2002-2006 for diabetes-related amputations, renal replacement and mortality using Poisson regression.

Metabolic syndrome: prevalence among American Indian and Alaska native people living in the southwestern United States and in Alaska.

Background: Metabolic syndrome occurs commonly in the United States. The purpose of this study was to measure the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among American Indian and Alaska Native people.

Methods: We measured the prevalence rates of metabolic syndrome, as defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program, among four groups of American Indian and Alaska Native people aged 20 years and older.

Reduction of amputation rates among Alaska Natives with diabetes following the development of a high-risk foot program.

Objective: The prevalence of diabetes is increasing rapidly among Alaska's Indian, Eskimo and Aleut populations. Approximately half the Native people with diabetes have no road access to hospitals or physicians, presenting a challenge in the attempt to prevent lower extremity amputation as a complication. In late 1998 funding became available for diabetes prevention and treatment among Native Americans.