Alaskans are at a high risk of chronic health issues that can cause death, and they’re not following practices that keep these chronic illnesses at bay, as per an upcoming report by the state.
A majority Alaska adults are obese or overweight Nearly a third of Alaskans suffer from high blood pressure, and nearly 27% suffer from high cholesterol According to the department of health’s annually published Alaska chronic disease facts report.
COVID-19 is now the third most common cause of death among Alaskans at the end of 2021 following heart disease and cancer, as well as the many chronic diseases that affect health could cause the disease to get worse in the future, according to the report.
A third of Alaska adults suffer from underlying health issues that can make them more susceptible to serious or even fatal consequences of COVID-19, the report stated. The conditions that are at risk include diabetes, obesity kidney disease heart disease, depression and diabetes.
Lifestyle choices are linked to certain issues, the report stated.
For adult population, 21% of them reported none of their activities were physical and 17% smoked cigarettes, stated the report, citing 2021 data. For high school students 30 percent were obese or overweight and less than half of them were taking physical education classes and about half of them had at least one sweet drink each day. And, even though only 8% were smokers and 26% smoked e-cigarettes “vaping” products as per the annual report.
The Alaska Chronic Disease Facts’ list of health conditions that affect students in high school is based on data from 2019, the most up-to-date information available.
The rates of obesity in Alaska’s adults are comparable to national averages that were recorded between 2017 and 2020 according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Teenage obesity and overweight rates are comparable to those of the national averages of youth as per The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
While Alaskans are failing to meet fitness and diet guidelines Many are not taking those recommended screenings to can detect or stop chronic illnesses which can lead to death according to the report.
Over half of those who were not previously diagnosed with diabetes did not have blood sugar tests during a period of three years in the report. For adults between 50 and 75, 30% not received the recommended screenings for colorectal carcinoma according to the report.
In the case of women 40 and over 39% of them had not had mammograms in the past 2 years, according to the study stated. For all adults over 65, 11% did not have any health insurance.
The mammogram data were similar to the findings of a different report which found Alaska women came in second place among states, following Wyoming and Wyoming, when it comes to staying current on breast cancer screenings. The report looked at mammogram rates for women who are 50 or older and used data from 2020 by the CDC.
To assist people in making positive changes to their lifestyles to improve their lives, to help people make positive lifestyle changes, the Department of Health launched a ” Fresh Start” program in the year 2000. The program, which is free, matches people with coaches and provides instructions and distributes items for health such as blood pressure cuffs.
However, some health issues can be traced to substandard living conditions that cannot be easily resolved by changes to individual behaviour, as the chronic disease in Alaska Facts report found. These include the lack of clean water and sanitation services in certain rural communities in Alaska, overcrowded homes and the repeated child abuse according to the report.
This article first appeared in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
