Diabetes is one of the major problems today. Most of us have been led to believe that diabetes is caused by eating too much sugar, obesity, or a poor lifestyle. But now, a new study has shocked everyone. According to this study, polluted air entering our body through breathing can also be a major cause of diabetes. This means that no matter how good a diet you eat or how much you walk daily, if you have been living in polluted air for years, you may be at an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. This is no longer just a guess, but a study based on data from over 2 billion people.
The study, titled APEX-T2D, has been published in the world-renowned Journal of Vascular Diseases. This research comes just before World Diabetes Day, November 14th. It analyzed 13 major reviews from around the world. These included data from over 2 billion participants from countries like the US, Europe, China, Japan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Brazil, and Australia. The research found that long-term exposure to PM2.5 in the air increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 10 to 16 percent for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter.
The impact of this research is most visible in South Asia. The reason is clear: pollution levels here are among the highest in the world, and the number of diabetes patients is also increasing rapidly. In India, more than 100 million people suffer from diabetes, while approximately 136 million people have pre-diabetes, meaning they could develop diabetes at any time. In cities like Delhi, the AQI reaches 400-500 in winter. Breathing such air means poisoning the body every day.
You might be wondering, what does air have to do with diabetes? So understand, PM2.5 are such small particles that they enter the bloodstream directly through the lungs. According to researchers, this increases inflammation in the body, causes oxidative stress, and impairs insulin function. Gradually, the body stops recognizing insulin, and blood sugar begins to rise. This is the beginning of type 2 diabetes.