Category: Health

Cree kids participate in international walk to school initiative

Hand in hand with their parents and other community members, this October the children of Eeyou Istchee participated in activities celebrating “Walk to School Month,” an initiative held in over 40 countries worldwide to get children out and active. In Mistissini, Wally Rabbitskin, a Planning, Programming and Research Officer for Physical ... read more ››

Programs and ideas for improving your health during the cold months

With the light and warmth of summer months away, the natural inclination is to bundle up in front of the TV as much as possible. However, this is the worst plan for your health as human beings need to be physically active. According to Dr. David Dannenbaum, of the Cree Board ... read more ››

Maintaining your health on the road

With the deep freeze well underway, traveling abroad is a sure fire way to escape the hardships of winter, if only briefly. Your trip, however, is only going to be as good as you feel, so take some advice from a medical professional who knows how to make your travel experience ... read more ››

Dialysis Unit Opens in Mistissini

Decades in the making, a new dialysis unit in Mistissini will finally allow the community’s diabetes patients to receive care at home. The clinic, which opened October 8, offers hemodialysis for patients who had previously been treated in Chibougamau or Montreal. Dialysis is a process to clean the blood for advanced diabetics ... read more ››

Vying to be the “biggest loser” in Chisasibi: Inspired by the reality show, Chisasibi’s recreation department is hosting its own weight-loss challenge

With diabetes on the rise in the Cree communities along with a whole host of other health complications relating to obesity, Chisasibi’s recreation technician Tommy Sam found inspiration from reality TV to help remedy the problem. For many seasons now, NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” has chronicled the extreme weight loss of ... read more ››

Monitoring sugar levels: As the number of Cree suffering from diabetes increases, so does the understanding of the disease

Did you know that there were 1,583 Cree living with diabetes as of July 1, 2007? Or that 100 Cree were diagnosed with diabetes over the past 12 months? That on average, one Cree is diagnosed with diabetes every 3.5 days or that 1 in 5 Cree adults has diabetes? Though ... read more ››

The Cree Health Board celebrates its 30 years of operation

The Cree Health Board has just hit the big 3-0 and to celebrate it held a big bash in Chisasibi April 19-20 to commemorate three decades of accomplishments, commitment and diligent service and to honour the individuals who made it possible. Diane Reid, chairperson for the CHBand a seven-year veteran, said, ... read more ››

The diabetes war: News from the frontlines

It’s been a whole year since the first Cree Regional Diabetes conference – held last November in Mistissini – and while much has changed since that time the diabetes epidemic has remained the same. In other words, it continues to grow. But there is some debate about the nature of that ... read more ››

Breastfeeding Week

The first annual Breastfeeding Week kicked off in Eeyou Istchee in early October, and by all accounts it was a great learning experience. The Public Health Department, Nutritionists, Community Health Representatives, and Nurses in the nine communities held different activities to promote breastfeeding as part of the traditional Cree culture. Over ... read more ››

Many elders affected by arthritis

Several weeks ago I saw a gaggle of geese flying south. It seemed to me that the end of August was a little early for them. They made their presence obvious with loud honking while flying in that familiar V shape. I learned early on from my Elders that the sight ... read more ››

Walking healthier path – Knowledge is power for Cree diabetics

With the diabetes epidemic approaching 20 per cent of the Cree population,Diabetes Awareness Month has taken on new meaning as almost no one in the communities can say that their lives remain untouched by the disease. In light of this, four Eeyou women who are living with the disease have ... read more ››

A back-to-school pink eye checkup

When kids head to class this fall, they’ll likely be exposed to more than just the A-B-Cs and 1-2-3s. Unfortunately, schools tend to be a breeding ground for germs and bacteria – including the dreaded pink eye. Are you prepared for when your child catches it this back-to-school season? If ... read more ››

Healing Conference

The first Cree Healing Conference will be held on Fort George Island August 27-30. Each day of the conference is organized by theme: August 28 focuses “The Individual”; August 29 “The Family”; August 30 “The Community as a Nation.” The workshops will deal with the various aspects of community development and progress. ... read more ››

Cree childhood obesity is growing – report

Childhood obesity is an epidemic in Canada and the statistics are even more alarming among Aboriginal children. A study published recently in the American Journal of Public Health found that up to 65 per cent of Cree preschoolers in northern Quebec communities were overweight or obese. Dr. Noreen Willows, a community ... read more ››

Our lives, our land, our health

Recently in our community a regional conference was held on diabetes and its effects on our people in Eeyou Astchee. I would like to add some recommendations, things that we as a community could consider to lead us towards prevention in the fight against diabetes. The need for better nutrition and ... read more ››

Chisasibi resident winning the fight against Diabetes

Chisasibi’s Sarah Louttit, 52, has had diabetes since 1991. At least, that’s when she was diagnosed during a stay at a treatment centre in the Gaspe town of Maria. Until then, she never thought about the disease and admitted that she knew very little. “I was in denial at first,” the ... read more ››

Diabetes special

When it comes to the reality of diabetes in the North, Chisasibi physician Darlene Kitty has her thumb on the pulse of the problem. In fact, at the time of our interview Dr. Kitty could give the exact number of diabetes sufferers in Eeyou Istchee: “Of the nine villages up here ... read more ››

An aboriginal history of diabetes

Though diabetes was virtually unheard of in Northern communities 50 years ago, today the disease is at epidemic proportions. One person who studies this phenomenon is Dr. Stanley Vollant, who heads up the Aboriginal Health program at the University of Ottawa and is an aboriginal health advocate. He says the ... read more ››

Walking the talk against diabetes

To address the North’s ever growing rate of diabetes, the community of Mistissini will host the very first Cree Regional Conference on Diabetes November 28-30. “It’s like that old expression that it takes a village to raise a child,” says Solomon Awashish, a Cree Health Board program officer for prevention of ... read more ››

BUYER BEWARE! Myths and Truths about herbal and other alternative remedies – Health advice from the Cree Health Board

Health concerns us all in the Cree Nation, especially when you consider the diabetes epidemic in some communities. Other health issues affect people but it is difficult at times to understand the many diseases, causes, solutions or choices. This column is designed to assist but it will require your input ... read more ››

AIDS: infecting our people at an alarming rate

The biggest misconception when it comes to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, is the fact that you are safe from it and that you could not possibly contract the disease. Well, you’re dead wrong, especially if you happen to be Native. A recent report talked about the rates Aboriginals contract ... read more ››

Drink, dope and the damage done – Unborn children are hurt for life when pregnant parents party hard

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, the phenomenon of children born with birth defects as a result of a pregnant mother’s consumption of alcohol, may have only come to the attention of Northern educators in recent years, but measures are now being taken to help these kids. Says Dorothy Nicholls, Vice-Principal of Mistissini’s Voyager ... read more ››

The Big Bird Virus Epidemic: Cautionary Advice for a Happy Hunting Season

Avian flu is the talk of just about every media outlet and family dinner table these days. Yet with the all the buzz surrounding Avian flu or the particular strain that has everyone so concerned, H5N1, it’s hard to know what the facts are and even harder to assess what ... read more ››

North West Company walks for diabetes in Hawaii

The message from the Northwest Company is clear: if you walk enough and eat right, nothing can stop you, not even diabetes! For the fifth consecutive year, Team Diabetes walked to raise awareness of the debilitating disease on December 11 in Hawaii. Five members of northern communities joined six employees from North ... read more ››

Diabetes profile: Alan Neacappo

Diabetes in Eeyou Istchee is at epidemic proportions. Recently the Nation had a chance to talk to Alan Neacappo and his struggle with the disease. Alan Neacappo is the Local Administrator for the Cree Hunters and Trappers Income Security Program in Chisasibi. He is 60 years old, single with no kids. “I ... read more ››

Diabetes, The Preventable Killer

The rate of diabetes in Eeyou Istchee has climbed each year and is currently at epidemic proportions. As of 2004, over 1,230 Eeyouch were living with diabetes. As part of November diabetes month, the Nation, along with the Cree Public Health Office, has released those statistics from 2004 to raise more ... read more ››