Health and wellness
Carving to blame? Lung disease among Inuit
(Ross Romaniuk/Sun Media, 4 October 2007) -- It's a leading-edge study into respiratory disease that has the University of Manitoba puffing out its chest. U of M will soon lead what it calls a historic research project to determine whether soapstone carving, hunting and other cultural activities are causes of lung disease among Canada's northern Inuit people -- who are dying of the ailment at higher rates than any others across the country. Using a $300,000 grant from Oakville, Ont.-based pharmaceutical giant Nycomed Canada Inc., the four-year project will be led by U of M's J.A. Hildes Northern Medical Unit and focus on the Inuit community of Sanikiluaq, Nunavut -- population 815. University president Emoke Szathmary spoke proudly yesterday of the potential "worldwide implications and significant impacts" to come from the probe, pointing out to health-care officials and researchers at the Bannatyne campus that no scientific study has yet been conducted on occupation-induced lung disease. And this despite evidence that respiratory illnesses kill more residents of Arctic regions than people in any other area of the world.
Posted 9 October 2007; 11:14:46 PM. Permalink
Tagged: Canada, Circumpolar News, Communities, Health and wellness, Research / Reports, Social Issues
email to: agra...@yukoncollege.yk.ca
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