Mumbai, July 16: Till today we believe that diabetes is caused by an unhealthy lifestyle; however, a recent study carried out by a health journal –The Lancet Planetary– shown a connection between air pollution and diabetes. The study reveals that air pollution estimates 14 percent of all diabetes cases worldwide in 2016. To prove their study, the researchers say that particulate matter (PM2.5, an air pollutant that is a concern for people's health when levels in air are high) when inhaled, reduces the body's ability to respond to insulin.

The study has been done based on air quality data. Furthermore, the paper found that in India, the Attributable Burden of Disease (ABD) is about 5.9 lakh which translates into an age-standardised ABD of 48.7 lakh per lakh pollution.

To carry the study the researchers tracked 1.7 million US veterans for almost a decade to assess their risk of developing diabetes, and used a mathematical model factoring in global data on diabetes risk, and air quality data from the US Environmental Protection Agency and NASA.

Science says that diabetic patients have an imbalance of blood glucose (blood sugar) level, because either the insulin production is inadequate or the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, or both. Doctors say that patients with high blood sugar will typically experience polyuria (frequent urination), they will become increasingly thirsty (polydipsia) and hungry (polyphagia).

The most common symptoms of diabetes observed are included frequent urination, intense thirst and hunger, weight gain, unusual weight loss, fatigue, cuts and bruises that do not heal, male sexual dysfunction, numbness and tingling in hands and feet.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 16, 2018 07:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).