A new study has revealed that reducing pollution may lead to a drop in diabetes cases globally.
The study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs (VA) St. Louis Health Care System, showed that air pollution contributes significantly to diabetes, revealing that even low pollution levels can pose health risk.
Diabetes is one of the fastest growing diseases, affecting more than 420 million people worldwide, says the World Health Organization (WHO).
The main drivers of diabetes include eating an unhealthy diet, having a sedentary lifestyle and obesity, but the new research indicates the extent to which outdoor air pollution plays a role.
Lead researcher and an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University, Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, said; “Our research shows a significant link between air pollution and diabetes globally.
“We found an increased risk, even at low levels of air pollution currently considered safe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and WHO.
This is important because many industry lobbying groups argue that current levels are too stringent and should be relaxed, but evidence shows that current levels are still not sufficiently safe and need to be tightened.”
He added; “We want to thread together the pieces for a broader, more solid understanding,” he said.
The findings were recently published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
To evaluate outdoor air pollution, the researchers looked at particulate matter, airborne microscopic pieces of dust, dirt, smoke, soot and liquid droplets. Previous studies have found that such particles can enter the lungs and invade the bloodstream, contributing to major health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, cancer and kidney disease.
