According to recent research proportion of pollution-linked diabetes is high in India.
What is the research findings about air pollution?
Particulate matter that exists as fine dust in the air can lead to an increased risk of diabetes, particularly in low-income countries such as India.
Analysis of the burden of pollution-linked diabetes (in the journal, Lancet Planetary Health ) estimates that in 2016, air pollution resulted in as many as 3.2 million new cases of diabetes.
This is 14% of all new diabetes cases for that year, and India’s share was 20% of new cases.
Annually, the researchers estimated that pollution-linked diabetes caused more than 2 lakh deaths in 2016.
What are the concerns for India?
India tops the list in terms of ‘Disability-Adjusted Life Years’, which measures years of healthy life lost due to pollution-linked diabetes.
Researchers estimate that nearly 8.2 million years of healthy life were lost globally in 2016, and India lost 1.625 million healthy years.
The global PM2.5 average was 42.3 micrograms per c3, in India, it was 72.6 per m3.
The study finds that a modest reduction in PM2.5 levels may lead to a reduction in diabetes cases in India.
This level is considered “safe” by Indian standards which sets a limit of 40 micrograms per m3) and is far below what is experienced in cities.
In Delhi, for instance, PM2.5 can touch nearly 100 micrograms per m3.
How air pollution contributes diabetes?
Researchers undertook a global estimate extrapolating national annual PM2.5 exposure estimates and using data points from the Global Burden of Disease study.
The risk of incident diabetes increased with rising concentrations of PM2.5 (fine dust less than 2.5 microns in diameter).
Studies have shown that this fine dust enters the bloodstream through the lungs, reducing insulin production and triggering inflammation.
This factor adds to the diabetes burden which affects more than 420 million people globally.
Even though previous studies had shown a significant impact of air pollution on diabetes, the burden of the disease had yet to be quantified.
