Epidemiological Studies in the Upernavik District, Greenland

TLDR

The Upernavik district in Northwest Greenland has about 1,800 inhabitants and remains a traditional whaling and sealing community. The study calls for comparable research in other Greenlandic districts undergoing greater lifestyle changes to clarify their impact on disease patterns. The authors conducted a 25‑year (1950–1974) observational review of all hospital‑diagnosed cases to determine disease incidence. Compared with West‑European populations, Greenlanders exhibit higher rates of apoplexy and epilepsy but lower or absent rates of myocardial infarction, diabetes, thyrotoxicosis, asthma, multiple sclerosis, and psoriasis, while cancer types differ yet overall incidence matches that of the Danish population. Acta Med Scand 208:401, 1980.

Abstract

ABSTRACT. An epidemiological survey of several chronic diseases in the Upernavik district, Northwest Greeland, is reported. The study population (ap‐prox. 1 800 inhabitants) is one of the remaining whaling and sealing populations in Greenland. It was observed over the 25‐year period 1950–74 as to the incidence of the diseases, which was based on all cases diagnosed in hospital during this period. The disease pattern of the Greenlanders differs from that of West‐European populations, having a higher frequency of apoplexy and epilepsy but a lower frequency or absence of acute myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus, thyrotoxicosis, bronchial asthma, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis. The distribution of cancer types differs from that of the Danish population, but the total incidence of cancer is of the same magnitude. Further comparable studies should be performed in Greenlandic districts that are characterized by more profound changes in life style, in order to elucidate the effect of these changes on the disease pattern. Acta Med Scand 208: 401, 1980.