UNBC Student Investigates Sleep Disorders in Aboriginals

Wednesday, February 04, 2009 03:30 PM

Terrace, B.C. - A UNBC nursing student from Terrace played an important role in a study of sleep disorders among First Nations Communities.

Mary-Ann Speirs, a third year student of the Northern Collaborative Baccalaureate Nursing Program, went door-to-door through Kitsumkalum, Kispiox, Gitanmaax, Gitsegukla, Kitwanga, and Gitanyow, surveying residents as part of a recently published study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine led by the UBC Sleep Disorders Program in Vancouver.

The field data Speirs collected on rates of sleep disorder and depression in aboriginal communities helped researchers confirm that sleep related disorders are more common among indigenous than non-aboriginal populations.

"I loved visiting people in their home and discussing their hardships, concerns, and cares. It reaffirmed for me what I have been working towards."

Project leader and UBC psychiatrist Colleen Froese says the research has important implications, as sleep disorders are associated with increased daytime impairment, fatigue-related accidents, and a decrease in the quality or enjoyment of life. There is a strong association with physical and mental illness and suicide.

"In Northern BC, there are two very important considerations – motor vehicle crashes and suicide rates," adds Dr. FroExcessive daytime sleepiness is considered as dangerous as intoxication, yet it has received little attention and there is already a high risk of suicide in First Nations, with rates five to six times higher than the non-aboriginal population."

Dr. Froese says sleep disorders and depression often go undiagnosed or untreated in First Nations people, but there are known effective and reliable methods of diagnosis and treatment available.

Previous Story - Next Story

Email |

Print |

Facebook |

Twitter |

Digg |

Del.icio.us

Posted on Wednesday, February 04, 2009 03:30 PM in News by 250 News

Return to Home

Comments

Posted by: He speaks on February 4 2009 5:30 PM

They drink fire water and then they sleep

Posted by: Moses on February 4 2009 7:01 PM

Way to go He squeeks - you're what makes this town, and this blog, what they are.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on February 4 2009 10:03 PM

Relax Moses, get some sleep.. you need it.

I get to sleep about 1:00am and wake up at 5:30am, and no alarm clock or fire water either.

Maybe we should post some info so the UNBC types have something to compare to besides their own sleep habits.

Posted by: metalman on February 5 2009 7:59 AM

You got it,Yama. Maybe the academics need to look out from under their hoodies, there are a lot of people who have these so called sleep disorders, and they come in all colours too! I think it is high time that our society begins to work against racial stereotyping. We need to work together, there is still too much predjudice in the world. I mean treating this sleep disorder issue as an aboriginal problem is really doing a disservice to the rest of us 'NON aboriginals' Why not instead conduct the same study amoungst a cross section of northern residents, and over a wider stretch of the province? We all suffer to some degree the effects of diminished sunlight in the winter, causing in some what they call Seasonal Affective Disorder; trouble sleeping, waking up, mood swings, depression hey you know the tune, sing along!
metalman.

Posted by: Wolfie on February 5 2009 8:56 AM

Did you guys even read the article? It says: "helped researchers confirm that sleep related disorders are more common among indigenous than non-aboriginal populations".

Obviously this would indicate that it was compared against non-aboriginal populations, or else they wouldn't be able to make this claim. Thus, non-aboriginal populations must have been studied also.

You don't get a study published in a medical journal like this by going "wow, these natives sure don't get much sleep, compared to me, a UNBC student. Thus, I can infer that all natives are insomniacs whereas all white people get 12 hours each night".

Posted by: heidi1555 on February 5 2009 9:32 AM

I don't remember where I first heard/read about this but was most likely a guest on Oprah. (very educational that show is... :) ) How we are all 99.9% the same under the skin colour.

Found what I was wanting in this article:
http://www.rickross.com/reference/hate_groups/hategroups384.html

Posted by: Junco on February 5 2009 11:07 AM

A few interesting facts
We share 40-50% of our DNA with cabbages.
- Humans share 98% of their DNA with chimpanzees.
- Every human on earth shares 99% of their DNA with every other human.
- Researchers at Cambridge University are convinced that mud worms not only share DNA with humans but that they are also our closest invertabrae relatives.

Posted by: Wolfie on February 5 2009 12:44 PM

Nice rebuttal Junco.

The fact that we are 98% the same as chimpanzees only serves to illustrate what a difference is made by that 2%. Thus, to be 99% the same as all other humans only means that there is still some significant differences.

Not to mention all of the differences that can't be explained by genetics, and are explained by upbringing and social setting, among other things.

Posted by: Harbinger on February 5 2009 2:23 PM

Sleep disorders, eh? Would that have anything to do with not having a schedule and the discipline to get up early five days a week in order to go to work? Jest wunderin'. The preceding was done by correlation and thinking about the body's clock. Is all.

Posted by: Wolfie on February 5 2009 4:42 PM

Harbinger, wouldn't the "factors" you listed be more likely to result in a lot of sleep, not fatigue as mentioned in the article?

Posted by: Wolfie on February 5 2009 4:44 PM

I swear you people don't even read the articles, you just read the word "aboriginals" in the title and then click "Post Comment" to spout off some biggoted commentary.

Posted by: metalman on February 5 2009 6:31 PM

Don't swear, Wolfie. I read the article,
but chose to spout anyway. The article clearly does NOT state that Ms. Spiers herself did any research other than aboriginal interviews. From that omission I conclude that the comparison made is based on data collected by others, independent of her research, thus not applicable to the article above.
metalman.

Posted by: Wolfie on February 5 2009 10:54 PM

Ms. Spiers was only a small part of this study. She just did the field work in the Northwest, probably just as a way to make some money. She then submitted her results to the profs at UBC who were doing the study. This article is reporting on the study as a whole, which incorporated Ms. Spiers' data along with a lot of other information.

The comparison made was based on data collected by this very study, though I agree with you that it likely wasn't all gathered by Ms. Spiers personally. You won't often find a published study done solely by a third-year student!

Posted by: fenceman on February 6 2009 1:30 AM

I would be interested to know if they also used a control like persons that are imprisoned or set to a very controlled schedule and routine. Just to see if it might be more genetic or environment driven.
I understand that alcoholism in aboriginal people is a genetic issue. They as a culture have only been exposed to alcohol for a few generations. Europeans have been exposed to alcohol for thousands of years more then enough time to have genetic adaptation to its effects.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on February 6 2009 7:28 AM

Exposure to alcohol is not entirely compensated for by the time a culture has had to adapt. There is genetics at work also.

For example the introduction of cows milk as it became available 10,000 years ago was not digestable by very many humans. Gradually evolutionary factors eliminated those that could not adapt. Today the trend is reversing and now about 20% of the population lacks the enzymes needed to digest milk.

Miracles of modern medicine today ensure that those bodies that lack the ability to handle alcohol will still survive. In return there is a cost to society, and one of those costs is another study.