Diabetes Care Center professionals speak at national conferences

Chickasaw Nation Diabetes Care Center employees Lea Caufield and Angie McElrath recently made presentations at national health care conferences.

Contributed by Tony Choate, tribal media relations

Two Chickasaw Nation Diabetes Care Center employees recently made presentations at national health care conferences.

Angie McElrath spoke at the 3rd National Prevention Summit Oct. 24-25 in Washington, D.C. The Summit was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

McElrath, a dental hygienist at the Diabetes Care Center, spoke on the important connections between oral health care and diabetes for pregnant women and infants.

One of those is the transfer of decay casing bacteria from pregnant women to their unborn child.

“Doctors in our diabetic center have started referring me their patients, because a lot of O.B. patients will have pregnancy gingivitis,” said McElrath. “So, we thought ‘we can catch that.’

“If I can catch the O.B. mother and take care of her, I can teach her how to take care of that baby while I’ve got her in the chair taking care of her. So that will prevent a lot of infant problems.”

Although many people are aware of the dental problems that may be caused by uncontrolled diabetes, few are aware of the reverse effects.

“Most people have no idea that infection in the mouth can keep their blood sugar elevated,” said McElrath. “And that’s the whole purpose in cleaning is to keep that bacteria level down by cleaning them.”

Lea Caufield, project coordinator of the REACH 2010 project at the Chickasaw Nation, spoke at the Maya Angelou Research Center on Minority Health National Conference Sept. 8-9 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

While there have been remarkable improvements in cardiovascular mortality for the general population in the past four decades, the gap between the general population and many minorities has continued to increase.

This conference was focused on addressing those disparities.

Caufield discussed the tribe’s promotion of physical activity as a means to decrease diabetes and cardiovascular disease among Native Americans in Oklahoma.

Prevention is a key component of the Diabetes Care Center approach to diabetes.

“We do have a preventive approach,” said Caufield. “People need to understand that you don’t have to get diabetes and then it’s all about treatment. You can delay onset, and even prevent onset.”

While she said she had a good response to her presentation, she was surprised at the limited Native American representation at the conference.

“It’s kind of like they forget that we’re here,” said Caufield “They forget that we are part of that minority population. So it’s really interesting to go to those conferences.”