Kidney disease more likely fatal among native people: studyBy: Kevin Rollason
27/07/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 1
IF you're aboriginal and have kidney disease in Manitoba, you're going to die faster than the non-aboriginal population and have higher rates of infection during treatment.
That's the conclusion of a study of 727 Manitoba adults -- 161 aboriginal -- who were treated from January 1997 to December 2007.
The study, conducted by the St. Boniface General Hospital and the University of Manitoba, only looked at people who had end-stage renal disease and were being treated with peritoneal dialysis, which cleans the blood inside a person's body at home instead of through a machine in hospital.
Dr. Manish M. Sood, lead author of the study and St. Boniface's director of hemodialysis, said the study found that once aboriginal people were put on peritoneal dialysis, they died twice as fast as other patients and their infection rates were 79 per cent higher.
"We don't know why," Sood said on Monday.
"The causes could be socio-economic -- poverty or education. Or it could be something genetic in origin. Or it could be having many people in houses and more bacteria around. We just don't know."
With peritoneal dialysis, the peritoneal cavity in the abdomen is injected four to six times a day with a special dialysis fluid and then the fluid is drained out.
Sood said the method allows aboriginal people to remain on their reserves instead of moving closer to a hospital. However, the negative numbers for aboriginal people hold true whether they have peritoneal dialysis in Winnipeg or at a northern reserve. Sood said more than half the people studied have died.
Grand Chief Ron Evans, of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, and Grand Chief David Harper, of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, believe eating less traditional food is at the root of aboriginal diabetes and perhaps the higher death and infection rates.
"I believe it all goes back to diet and lifestyle," Evans said. "We were one of the healthiest people on the planet -- we just didn't adjust to change when change came."
Harper said processed foods are part of the problem.
"It has a detrimental effect on us," he said.
"We're slowly going back to the fundamental foods by hunting and fishing. It's already getting back to the children."
Sood said research is now being conducted to see if there are differences between aboriginals and non-aboriginals in hemodialysis done in hospitals and clinics.
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 27, 2010 B2
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/kidney-disease-more-likely-fatal-among-native-people-study-99298514.html
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