Earlier this year, the Lac La Ronge Indian Band hired a doctor to investigate Vitamin C deficiency among residents of northern Saskatchewan.
The doctor would conduct 50 vitamin C blood tests over a span of several months.
Of those 50 tests, 27 were found to be deficient while 10 more showed low Vitamin C levels.
These results have again raised concerns about food insecurity in the north.
MBC Radio News spoke with LLRIB Chief Tammy Cook-Searson about these tests, how to identify and treat Vitamin C deficiencies, and what role food insecurity plays.
The audio of the interview can be found at this link with a full transcript of the below.
MBC News – We’re seeing reports of an increase of scurvy cases, in the north here. So as chief of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, what’s your thoughts when you’re seeing these reports?
Cook-Searson – Yeah. So the report was actually, done by Lac La Ronge Indian Band Health Services and Northern Inter Tribal Health Authority, along with the medical, Doctor Jeff Irvine. Many people and teams were involved in the study.
They were looking at the data from previous tests that were completed from May 2024, back to 15 years. But it was something that they never really tracked before. So mainly started doing more tests on vitamin C deficiency, which is also called scurvy, and it’s a low, low vitamin C.
So they recently started doing more tests on it. They performed 51 tests and out of those 51 tests, 50 of those were tested in the last 2 years since mid 2023. So if you’re vitamin C deficient, it is something that could be fatal or you could end up in ICU if you don’t treat it. It is, easy to be treated if you’re vitamin C deficient.
So you could take vitamins, but according to the doctor, I was talking to him, doctor Jeff Irvine, he said it’s better to eat foods too that’ll help, like citrus fruits such as oranges.
However, we also have a lot of traditional food around in our area there, in Northern Saskatchewan that have a lot of vitamin C, such as rose hips. We also have mint tea, which also has vitamin C. And then spruce needles, which you can put in hot water and then drink it as a tea, and that has a lot of vitamin C. And then also, moose liver, and moose heart and kidney that have a lot of vitamin C in them.
So it’s something that they’re just starting to notice now. And, you know, it could be that you’re feeling, low energy or just not feeling well, and it means you could be vitamin C deficient.
MBC News – There’s been a bit of discussion around this that the reason we’re seeing this rise in scurvy is because of food insecurity and an inflating cost of groceries. Do you agree with that? That that’s a reason why we’re potentially seeing this rise in scurvy cases?
Cook-Searson – Yes. I agree with that too, because there’s a lot of concern with food security and access to food and proper nutrition is a big issue. I see that a lot in our communities too. So, access to healthy food and better foods is important, because it makes a difference when you have a balanced diet. Our health is all we have at the end of the day, and it’s something that we have to look after. We have to make sure that our community members are healthy and have access to food, and food security continues to be a big issue.
MBC News – Now you mentioned a little bit about some of the things to take to help curb, vitamin C deficiency like oranges as well as rose hip and some animal parts. What what would your message be to members or people in the north who are hearing about these rise in scurvy cases? What what do you hope to communicate to them?
Cook-Searson – To make sure that, that you’re getting tested, make sure that you’re getting annual checkups with the doctor. And then also if you’re not feeling well, make sure you get out get get tested. Because it could be something such as low vitamin C, and that is something that can be easily fixed. Whether that be taking vitamin C pills, eating citrus foods or more traditional foods.
I grew up on the trap line, and it’s something that I’ve seen. You know, we we did drink a lot of mint tea or Labrador tea, which was made from muskeg. So that’s another thing that has a lot of vitamin C. And then I’ve also seen, like every time we’d get a my dad would get a moose, we would always eat the the kidney, the heart, the liver, you know, those kinds of things, not really knowing that they had high vitamin C in them.
So there’s things out there that we that can help us. So just learning about what kinds of things can make ourselves healthier and getting checked by the doctor.