Cardiovascular and Metabolic Health among an Indigenous Circumpolar Population from Siberia: The Effects of Economic Development and Lifestyle Change

James J. Snodgrass, University of Oregon
Melissa A. Liebert, University of Oregon
William Leonard, Northwestern University
Larissa Tarskaia, University of Kansas
Tatiana Klimova, FSRI Institute of Health, Republic of Sakha/Yakutia, Russia
Valentina Fedorova, FSRI Institute of Health, Republic of Sakha/Yakutia, Russia
Marina Baltakhinova, FSRI Institute of Health, Republic of Sakha/Yakutia, Russia
Vadim Krivoshapkin, FSRI Institute of Health, Republic of Sakha/Yakutia, Russia

As indigenous populations transition away from traditional subsistence-oriented economies, they often experience an increase in chronic health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The health effects of economic development and lifestyle change among indigenous Siberians is complicated by the social transformations brought about by Soviet collectivization and the collapse of the Soviet Union. The present study investigates market integration and cardiovascular/metabolic risk among the Yakut (Sakha) of northeastern Siberia in order to: 1) document rates of chronic conditions, including the metabolic syndrome, and to consider the magnitude of recent change; 2) assess risk factor patterning by age and sex; and 3) examine associations between these disease patterns and lifestyle/socioeconomic factors. Results show a pattern of chronic disease that is distinct from that seen among other populations undergoing this lifestyle transition, and suggest that cardiovascular and metabolic health are rapidly deteriorating, particularly among women.