Non-biological factors and social considerations are important to include in Cardio Vascular Disease risk assessment for women, particularly for women of diverse races and ethnicities, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement. American Indian and Alaska Native women have a higher rate of tobacco use than other groups, with 1 in 3 American Indian or Alaska Native women currently smoking. Type 2 diabetes is the primary risk factor for heart disease among American Indian women; however, rates vary by region, with up to 72% prevalence among American Indian women in Arizona, and just over 40% among those in Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Dakota. Unfortunately, understanding the cardiovascular health of American Indian/Alaska Native people is challenging due to small sample sizes in national data, racial and/or ethnic misclassification or other factors.
The search committee for the associate vice president for the Wokini Initiative at South Dakota State University has named two finalists. The selected individual will provide vision, leadership, coordination and direction for the Wokini Initiative, SDSU’s collaborative and holistic framework to support American Indian student success and Indigenous Nation-building, offering programming and support to the citizens of South Dakota’s nine tribal nations in pursuit of higher education. Each candidate will spend one day interviewing and meeting with university leadership, faculty, students and staff. There will be open forums for each candidate to engage with other key stakeholders, including community and university members. The finalists are Dr. Lane Azure, currently President of Sisseton Wahpeton College and J.R. LaPlante, from Cheyenne River who is currently the Director of tribal relations at Avera Health.
Those are your headlines at this hour, I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI News center.
