Air pollution seems to promote diabetes – even at officially "safe" pollution levels & # 39;

A new study published by researchers from the School of Medicine of the University of Washington St. Louis and the St. Louis Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System suggest that heavily polluted countries like India or the United States could see significant health benefits – Should they adopt a stricter regulation on air pollution.After reviewing all research related to diabetes and outdoor air pollution, the team has designed a model to assess the risk of diabetes through different levels of pollution.They first examined the particle levels s – microscopic particles of dust, dirt, smoke, soot and fluids that float in the atmosphere – recorded by the EPA 's ground air monitoring systems and satellites. The NASA. They have focused their research on particles because these substances can enter the bloodstream of the lungs, contributing to major health problems such as heart disease, stroke, cancer or kidney disease.

(who were followed for a median of 8.5 years). None of the veterans had a history of diabetes. Finally, they analyzed data from the global burden of disease study – conducted annually with researchers around the world – to estimate annual cases of diabetes and years of healthy life lost due to pollution.

to test whether a link can be observed between levels of air pollution and the incidence of diabetes. The validity of the link was tested by the introduction of two other variables: ambient concentrations of sodium, which have no connection with diabetes, and fractures of the lower limbs, which have no link with outdoor air pollution. The addition of these datasets helped the team to spot any suspicious associations between pollution and diabetes datasets.

Diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases in the world. An unhealthy diet, a sedentary lifestyle and obesity are considered to be the main drivers of the disease – and, according to more recent research, white paint. Today 's results, however, suggest that air pollution could also be responsible for much of the damage:

"Our research shows a significant link between the pollution of the air and the environment. air and diabetes, "said Ziyad Al-Aly. "We have found an increased risk even at low levels of air pollution currently considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO)."

"This is important because many lobbies argue that current levels are too stringent and should be relaxed.The evidence shows that current levels are not yet safe enough and need to be strengthened."

The team estimates that air pollution contributed to 3.2 million new cases of diabetes worldwide in 2016 – about 14% of all cases this year.Pollution-related diabetes resulted in the loss of some 8 , 2 million years of healthy living during the same year, which still corresponds to about 14% of all healthy life lost due to diabetes.In the United States, the study attributes 150,000 new cases of diabetes per year to air pollution and 350,000 healthy years of life lost annually

Results suggest that reducing air pollution can also help reduce diabetes

Among the sample of veterans exposed to pollution levels of between 5 and 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air, 21% developed diabetes. At exposures ranging from 11.9 to 13.6 micrograms per cubic meter of air, about 24% developed diabetes. In the United States, the maximum safe pollution threshold established by the EPA is 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air. The Al-Aly team, however, says their findings show that pollution levels as low as 2.4 micrograms per cubic meter of air lead to a significantly increased risk of developing diabetes. .

People in low-income countries like India are also at higher overall risk of diabetes-related pollution. It may be for those countries that lack the resources to invest in environmental mitigation systems or policies. Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Guyana are among the countries with the highest risks of diabetes related to pollution. Countries like France, Finland and Iceland are at lower risk, while the United States sees a moderate risk of diabetes linked to pollution

The document "The global and national burden of diabetes mellitus" of 2016 attributable to air pollution of fine particles ". was published in the journal The Lancet Planetary Health .

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