Air pollution contributes to diabetes: study

A research from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis links outdoor air pollution, even at levels deemed safe, to an increased risk of diabetes in the world.

University researchers, in collaboration with scientists from the Veterans Affairs Clinical Epidemiology Center, examined the relationship between particles and diabetes risk by first analyzing data from 1.7 million American veterans who had no history of diabetes. were followed for a median of 8.5 years.

Researchers linked patient data to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ground-based air monitoring systems and NASA's space satellites (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).

They used several statistical models and tested the validity against controls such as ambient sodium concentrations and lower limb fractures, as well as the risk of developing diabetes. This exercise helped researchers eliminate false associations.

Then they screened all the research related to diabetes and outdoor air pollution and designed a model to assess the risk of diabetes across different levels of pollution.

Finally, the researchers analyzed data from the Global Burden of Disease study, which is conducted annually with contributions from researchers around the world.

"Our research shows a significant link between air pollution and diabetes in the world," said Ziyad Al-Aly, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California. 39, University of Washington.

"We found an increased risk even at low level of air pollution currently considered safe by the EPA and the World Health Organization (WHO)." Evidence shows that current levels are not yet safe enough "the researcher added.

Among a sample of veterans exposed to a pollution of between 5 and 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air, about 21% developed diabetes.When this exposure increased from 11.9 to 13.6 micrograms per cubic meter of air, about 24 percent of the group developed diabetes.

The researchers also found that the overall risk of pollution-related diabetes is more geared toward low-income countries like India that do not have the resources needed for environmental mitigation systems and policies.

Diabetes affects more than 420 million people worldwide and 30 million Americans In the United States, the study attributes 150,000 new cases of diabetes per year to air pollution and 3 50,000 years of healthy life lost each year.

The results were published June 29 in Lancet Planetary Health.