Outdoor air pollution linked to higher risk of diabetes

A new study links outdoor air pollution – even at levels deemed safe – to an increased risk of diabetes globally.

The results raise the possibility that a reduction in pollution may lead to a drop in diabetes cases in highly polluted countries. India and less polluted countries like the United States

Diabetes, one of the fastest growing diseases, affects more than 420 million people worldwide and 30 million people worldwide. ; Americans. The main determinants are unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle and obesity, but new findings indicate the importance of outdoor air pollution.

"Our research shows a significant link between air pollution and diabetes" says Ziyad Al-Aly, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington in St. Louis and senior author of The article, which appears in The Lancet Planetary Health .

"We found an increased risk even at the low levels of air pollution currently considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) This is important because many industry lobbyists argue that current levels are too stringent and should be relaxed 3.2 million new cases of diabetes

As more and more evidence suggest a link between air pollution and diabetes, researchers have not attempted to quantify this burden until "

" Over the past two decades, there has been had research on diabetes and pollution, "says Al-Aly," We wanted to assemble the pieces for a broader, more solid understanding. "

To assess outdoor air pollution, researchers examined particles, microparticles oscopic suspended in the air, dust, smoke, soot and liquid droplets. 19659002] Previous studies have shown that such particles can enter the lungs and invade the bloodstream, contributing to major health problems such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and kidney disease. In diabetes, it is thought that pollution reduces the production of insulin and triggers inflammation, preventing the body from converting blood glucose into energy that the body needs to stay healthy.

Overall, researchers estimated that 2016, accounting for about 14 percent of all new diabetes cases in the world this year. They also estimated that 8.2 million years of healthy life were lost in 2016 due to pollution-related diabetes, accounting for about 14 percent of all healthy life years lost due to of diabetes, whatever the cause. (Measuring the number of years of healthy life lost is often called "disability-adjusted life years.")

In the United States, the study attributes 150,000 new case of diabetes per year to air pollution and 350,000 years

The biggest risk

The researchers examined the relationship between particles and diabetes risk by first analyzing the data from 1.7 million American veterans who were followed for a median of 8.5 years. Veterans did not have a history of diabetes.

Researchers have linked these patient data with EPA's ground-based air monitoring systems as well as space satellites operated by NASA. They used several statistical models and tested the validity against controls such as sodium concentrations in the ambient air, unrelated to diabetes, and lower extremity fractures unrelated to the pollution of the body. outside air. a strong link with air pollution.

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Then, they screened all research on diabetes and outdoor air pollution and designed a model for assessing the risk of diabetes.

Finally, they analyzed data from the global burden of disease study, which is conducted annually with contributions from researchers around the world. The data helped to estimate annual cases of diabetes and years of healthy life lost due to pollution.

The researchers also found that the overall risk of diabetes-related pollution is more geared towards low-income countries like India. For example, poor countries facing a higher risk of diabetes pollution include Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Guyana, while rich countries like France, Finland and the United States. Iceland risk lower. In the United States, the pollution threshold of EPA is 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air, the highest level of air pollution considered safe for the public, as defined by the Clean Air. Law of 1990 and updated in 2012. However, using mathematical models, the Al-Aly team has established an increased risk of diabetes at 2.4 micrograms per cubic meter of air

The greater the air pollution, the greater the mental distress. According to the data, 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 increases to 11.9 to 13.6 micrograms per cubic meter of air, about 24 percent of the group has developed diabetes. A difference of 3% seems low, but it represents an increase of 5,000 to 6,000 new cases of diabetes per 100,000 people per year.

In October 2017, the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health released a report outlining pollution gaps. health effects. One of his recommendations was to define and quantify the relationship between pollution and diabetes.

The US Department of Veterans Affairs funded the work

Source: Washington University in St. Louis