Rare disease found in NMI children

A disease mostly found in adults, called Acanthosis Nigricans, was discovered in children in the CNMI during the 2005 Health Survey for the Children conducted throughout Commonwealth.

Dr. Rachel Novotny of the University of Hawaii presented the preliminary data on the Health Pacific Child Project Survey at the Office on Aging’s Man’amko Center yesterday morning. Novotny said although among the 420 respondents in the survey only nine cases were identified to have the skin discoloration disease.

Novotny said seven of the nine children with the disease were boys and two were girls and seven among the nine were above eight years old.

“All of the nine children were in the overweight category,” said Novotny, adding that three of them had cholesterol levels above 200 mg/dl.

She said even though it was only nine children out of the 420 with the disease, she was surprised to discover the disease to be affecting the children. Novotny said mostly the disease attacks only adults.

“It’s something that we don’t see anywhere and typically experienced by adults,” she said.

Acanthosis Nigricans, according to Novotny, is a typical skin coloration on the neck of a patient and those who have the skin change typically are at risk of acquiring diabetes at a very young age but it does not necessarily mean the patients have already diabetes. “Though both adults and children can have these skin changes Acanthosis Nigricans is associated with being overweight,” she said.

Novotny said if the disease gets worse with those who have it, it would eventually lead to diabetes.

Aside from the screening of the skin of the children, the survey also included blood tests for anemia and total cholesterol level of the children.

Preliminary results indicated that 26 percent of the children below five years old show symptoms of anemia, while 17 percent of the children from five to 11 years old also had low hemoglobin level. Only 13 percent of the male and 14 percent of the female children had cholesterol level above the 200 mg/dl standard.

The team also surveyed the oral condition, the body mass index and blood pressure of the children. Among the 420 percent surveyed children, 16 percent were 10 years old, 13 percent were five years old and 11 percent both for two years old and three year old kids.

Novotny said the survey team comprised four survey teams which are composed of a nurse, dental hygienist, interviewer from NMC or University of Hawaii and two anthropometrists from NMC or UH.

The teams were divided to get complete random sampling in places like Capitol Hill, Chalan Kanoa, Dandan, Garapan, Gualo Rai, Kagman, Koblerville, Navy Hill, San Antonio, San Jose, San Roque, San Vicente, Susupe, and Tanapag. Teams also went to San Roque on Tinian and Songsong on Rota. She said the survey was reviewed and approved by the University of Hawaii Institutional Review Board.

Novotny said the same results of the survey are expected to be released by summer of 2006. “Preliminary dietary analysis/data should be ready by summer 2006,” she said.

She said the group is currently finishing the development of a web-based survey analysis tool called PacTrac. The software is a dietary analysis program developed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture interactive software formerly called the Interactive Healthy Eating Index. “It is now called My Pyramid Tracker,” she said. All data gathered will be encoded to the software and will be analyzed accordingly, said Novotny.

Department of Public Health deputy secretary Pete Untalan, Medical Affairs director Robin Shearer, NMC president Tony Deleon Guerrero, NMC-CREES acting director Margarita Tudela, and officers from the University of Guam and University of Hawaii attended the presentation.

Untalan thanked the survey group for the data gathering. He said now that the data is available it would tremendously help the public health office to meet those challenges that the survey discovered.