You just knew this was coming
According to a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP); traffic-related air pollution may also increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in women. Researchers analyzed data from 1,775 women who were 54 or 55 years old when they enrolled in the study in 1985. Between 1990 and 2006, 187 participants were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Air pollution data from monitoring stations and emission inventories run by local environmental agencies were used to estimate each woman’s average exposure levels.
Now Diabetic Investor doesn’t want to say we told everyone this would happen but we did. We knew it was only a matter of time before a group of researchers looked for a correlation between breathing and developing diabetes. It should also be noted that this study is another example of the gender bias in diabetes research as it only looked at women who breathe polluted air and not men. According to study leader Wolfgang Rathmann, “We have no reason to assume sex differences in the association between air pollution and diabetes risk, but we do not have data on this issue.” Given this statement by Mr. Rathmann it seems logical to assume his group will embark on another ground breaking study that will examine how this issue affects men.
On the flip side there was some good news today as Dutch researchers discovered that alcohol consumption may actually lower the risk of developing diabetes. According to a study conducted by the National Institute for Public Health and Environment and Dutch medical and scientific centers, results showed that people who consumed alcohol moderately and met at least three of four conditions of a healthy lifestyle, had 40 percent less chance of developing Type 2 diabetes than those who abstained from alcohol completely.
“The results of the investigation show that moderate alcohol consumption can play a part in a health lifestyle to help reduce the risk of developing diabetes type 2,” scientific research group TNO, which helped carry out the analysis, said in a statement.
Now this is the type of research we can all celebrate. Diabetic Investor also has a suggestion for the Dutch team as we believe further research is needed to determine which form of alcohol is the most effective at lowering the risk of diabetes. While it’s great to know that a drink or two lowers the risk of developing diabetes but it would be even better to know which type of alcohol is most effective. Think of what this could do for wine makers should it be determined that wine is more effective than beer. Of course such a result would prompt a counter study by beer makers to prove that beer is equally as effective at lowering the risk of developing diabetes.
Perhaps we can combine the two groups and study how drinking in a rural area which has clean air differs from drinking in an urban environment where air pollution is more prevalent. Perhaps such a study will find that drinking offsets the effects of air pollution giving another boost to alcohol makers. Conversely, such a study could find that air pollution is more powerful than a good drink and give environmentalist something else to worry about. Besides global warming these people could then lobby Congress for tougher clean air standards claiming that clean air will help offset the epidemic growth rate of diabetes.
Diabetic Investor believes we could be on the verge of an entirely new approach to diabetes research. Rather than study such mundane issues such as how to better control diabetes or looking for new drugs that would help patients more effectively manage their diabetes, more money should spent on looking at external factors not previously considered to be a factor. Why study how obesity impacts diabetes when we can all head to our local gin mill and conduct our own research.
Given the way research is going these days all of us will need a few drinks to fathom why researchers are wasting valuable resources studying issues that have little or no benefit combating the epidemic growth rate of diabetes or how the millions of patients with diabetes can more effectively manage their diabetes. Is it any wonder that more than two-thirds of all patients with diabetes are not properly controlling their diabetes? These people might as well belly up to the bar as about the only people who are listening to their real concerns is their local bartender.
