In December 2015 at the climate change conference in Paris, leaders of the world were excited that nearly all the countries of the world committed to cut down their greenhouse gas emissions.
It is high time we focus on air pollution and the disastrous consequences on our planet. However, is it just our planet that is suffering? It appears our human bodies are also not immune to this pollution.
Researchers in Germany from the German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD) and from the HelmholtzZentrum münchen performed an analysis on 2944 participants between the years 2006 to 2008 in the region of Augsberg.
The research looked for associations between air pollution and insulin, glucose, and the levels of other indicators of diabetes (hs-CRP, HbA1C, leptin) in non-diabetic, pre-diabetic, and diabetic individuals in the 2944 participants.
“In pre-diabetic individuals, there is a strong association between air pollutant levels and the increase in insulin levels as well as insulin resistance.“
Other markers for diabetes, such as disruption of glucose metabolism, are also associated strongly with increased air pollutant levels. Non-diabetic or diabetic individuals did not appear to be affected by the elvels of air pollutants.
We feel immune to the consequence of air pollution. However, our bodies appear to be experiencing a damaging effect of pollution. Its not just lifestyle, diet, or heredity that can initiate diabetes, living in a polluted environment may potentially be another trigger for pre-diabetic individuals.
