Air Pollution Increases Diabetes
When we think of diabetes we often think of lifestyle issues like obesity and poor nutrition. There seem to be little conversation about how air pollution increases diabetes… until now.
Outdoor air pollution – already a major cause of disease and death globally – contributed to 3.2 million new cases of type 2 diabetes in 2016, according to a new study.
Tiny particulate matter (PM 2.5) are known to increase the risk of heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease and other non-communicable diseases, and the study authors say there’s now a growing body of evidence to suggest that air pollution is also strongly linked to type 2 diabetes.
Although previous research has shown an association between the disease and air pollution, this US study is the first to quantify new diabetes cases globally that can be attributed to breathing dirty air: about one in seven, or 14% of the total in 2016.
The study, published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health, found that there was an increased risk of diabetes even when air pollution levels were below what is deemed safe by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Our research shows a significant link between air pollution and diabetes globally,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, the study’s senior author and an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University.
Source: Air pollution could be responsible for 1 in 7 new cases of diabetes | World Economic Forum
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