Publications

Hyperthyroidism was frequent among Inuit and the occurrence of hypothyroidism was low. The pattern of hyper- and hypothyroidism among Greenlandic Inuit with adequate iodine intake was comparable with those seen in populations with iodine deficiency. Inuit may thus have adapted to excessive iodine intake over centuries, causing a need for a higher iodine intake to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.

The foods we eat contain microorganisms that we ingest alongside the food. Industrialized food systems offer great advantages from a safety point of view, but have also been accused of depleting the diversity of the human microbiota with negative implications for human health. In contrast, artisanal traditional foods are potential sources of a diverse food microbiota. Traditional foods of the Greenlandic Inuit are comprised of animal-sourced foods prepared in the natural environment and are often consumed raw. These foods, some of which are on the verge of extinction, have not previously been microbiologically character- ized. We mapped the microbiota of foods stemming from traditional Inuit land-based hunting activities. The foods included in the current study are dried muskox and caribou meat, cari- bou rumen and intestinal content as well as larval parasites from caribou hides, all traditional Inuit foods. This study shows that traditional drying methods are efficient for limiting micro- bial growth through desiccation. The results also show the rumen content of the caribou to be a highly diverse source of microbes with potential for degradation of plants. Finally, a number of parasites were shown to be included in the biodiversity of the assessed traditional foods. Taken together, the results map out a diverse source of ingested microbes and para- sites that originate from the natural environment. These results have implications for under- standing the nature-sourced traditional Inuit diet, which is in contrast to current day diet recommendations as well as modern industrialized food systems.

Gennem de seneste årtier er den sociale ulighed i Grønland steget. Velfærdsinstitutionerne har overtaget mange ansvarsområder som før var familiernes, hvilket kan true børns trivsel og sundhed, dels fordi der er behov for at forældre også tager ansvar, dels fordi velfærdsinstitutioners logik er at behandle sig ud af problemer. Kapitlets pointe er at institutionerne må påtage sig opgaven med at inddrage forældrene og den øvrige lokalbefolkning i løsningen af velfærdsproblemer med fokus på lokale ressourcer, det vil sige gennem sundhedsfremmende tiltag. På den måde kan institutionerne støtte befolkningen i at tage del i ansvaret for sundhed og trivsel på længere sigt. Dette kræver samarbejde mellem befolkningen, institutionerne, organisationerne og forskningen om at skabe selvforvaltning og et godt liv i lokalsamfundene.

Sundhedsforskning i Grønland rummer udfordringer som vestlige videnskabsetiske retningslinjer har svært ved at håndtere på en måde så forskningen kan medvirke til at forbedre befolkningens sundhedstilstand. Koloniseringen i Grønland har, ligesom kolonisering blandt oprindelige befolkninger andre steder i verden, medført sociale problemer som følge af blandt andet tab af identitet og værdier samt ansvarsfratagelse. Vestligt orienterede sundhedssystemer, med deres fokus på helbred og behandling, kan vanskeligt inddrage sociokulturelle faktorers betydning for livskvalitet, og tilgangen stemmer dårligt overens med befolkningens værdier og opfattelser af et godt liv.

Ligesom sundhedsvæsenet er også sundhedsforskningen behandlingsorienteret. Derfor er der brug for at uddanne grønlandske forskere fordi de med deres kendskab til landet og befolkningen kan sætte helbredsproblemer ind i deres sociokulturelle sammenhænge og på den måde forske på et etisk forsvarligt grundlag. Denne forskningsmæssige kapacitetsopbygning foregår bl.a. i samarbejde med udenlandske forskere i regi af Grønlands Center for Sundhedsforskning ved Ilisimatusarfik.

The great auk was once abundant and distributed across the North Atlantic. It is now extinct, having been heavily exploited for its eggs, meat, and feathers. We investigated the impact of human hunting on its demise by integrating genetic data, GPS-based ocean current data, and analyses of population viability. We sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes of 41 individuals from across the species’ geographic range and reconstructed population structure and population dynamics throughout the Holocene. Taken together, our data do not provide any evidence that great auks were at risk of extinction prior to the onset of intensive human hunting in the early 16th century. In addition, our population viability analyses reveal that even if the great auk had not been under threat by environmental change, human hunting alone could have been sufficient to cause its extinction. Our results emphasise the vulnerability of even abundant and widespread species to intense and localised exploitation.