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A new study links outdoor air pollution – even at levels deemed safe – to an increased risk of diabetes globally, according to a study from the School of Medicine. The University of Washington at St. Louis and Veterans Affairs
The results raise the possibility that reducing pollution may lead to a decline in diabetes cases in heavily polluted countries like India and less polluted like the United States.
Diabetes is one of the fastest diseases, affecting more than 420 million people worldwide and 30 million Americans. The main drivers of diabetes are: unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle and obesity, but new research indicates the extent to which outdoor air pollution plays a role.
"Our research shows an important link between air pollution and diabetes. on a global scale, "said Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, the senior author of the study and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington. "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), which is important because many pressure groups say the current levels are too stringent. Evidence shows that current levels are not yet safe enough and need to be tightened.
The results are published June 29 in The Lancet Planetary Health . have suggested a link between air pollution and diabetes, the researchers have not tried to quantify this burden until now. "Over the last two decades, there has been research on diabetes and pollution," Al-Aly said. "We wanted to assemble the parts for a broader and more solid understanding."
To evaluate outdoor air pollution, the researchers examined particles, airborne microscopic particles, dust, smoke, soot and liquid droplets. 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 diabetes case per year at air pollution and 350,000 years The team from the University of Washington, in collaboration with scientists from the Clinical Epidemiology Center of Veterans Affairs, examined the relationship between Particles and risk of diabetes by first analyzing the data of 1.7 million American veterans who were followed. for a median of 8.5 years. Veterans did not have a history of diabetes. The researchers linked these patient data to the EPA 's ground – based air monitoring systems as well as to space satellites operated by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). 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. This exercise helped the researchers to eliminate the misleading associations
Then, they screened all research on diabetes and outdoor air pollution and devised a model to assess the risk of diabetes to various pollution levels.
Global burden of disease study, 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 environmental mitigation systems and air cleanup policies. For example, the countries hit by poverty and facing a higher risk of pollution by diabetes are Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea and Guyana, while richer countries like France, Finland and Iceland are less exposed. 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 . Based on the VA 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. "The St. Louis team is doing important research to strengthen the links between pollution and health issues such as diabetes," said Philip J., a member of the commission. Landrigan, MD, a pediatrician and epidemiologist who is the dean of global health at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and chairman of his department of preventive medicine. "I believe their research will have a significant overall impact."
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