Healthcare (Commonwealth Union) – Diabetes is rapidly becoming one of the most pressing global health challenges. Over the past few decades, the rates of diabetes have surged dramatically worldwide, creating a growing public health crisis. This increase is largely attributed to changes in lifestyle, diet, and urbanization, along with aging populations.
The possibility of an environmental being responsible for diabetes has been raised, where findings indicate that the exposure to arsenic and other harmful metals may speed up the development of diabetes, according to new research from the University of Illinois Chicago.
In a long-term study involving more than 500 Mexican Americans from southern Texas, researchers discovered that elevated levels of toxic metals in urine were linked to quicker rises in blood sugar levels over the following years.
The findings suggest that people with the highest concentrations of arsenic in their urine could become prediabetic 23 months sooner and diabetic 65 months earlier than those with the lowest levels of exposure.
Published in Diabetes Care, the study sheds light on a largely overlooked risk factor for diabetes, a serious public health issue that contributes to disparities in conditions like heart disease, kidney failure, and blindness. It also underscores that this risk can be mitigated by bringing down the contact with contaminated food, water, and other sources.
“Environmental exposures have largely been neglected as drivers of the diabetes epidemic,” explained Margaret Weiss, who is an MD/PhD student at UIC as well as the first author of the study. “These data support using environmental policy as a new tool to mitigate the devastating burden of diabetes on individuals and society at large.”
The research focused on residents of Starr County, Texas, a border region with some of the nation’s highest rates of diabetes and diabetes-related deaths. Local groundwater has been found to contain arsenic and other harmful metals, which may also enter the body through food and medications.
As part of a larger initiative led by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 510 participants provided urine and blood samples. Researchers analyzed the levels of various metals in the urine at the beginning of the study and tracked blood sugar levels after three, six, 12, 24, and 36 months.
Overall, blood sugar levels rose among all participants. However, those who had higher initial urinary levels of arsenic, selenium, copper, molybdenum, nickel, or tin saw their blood sugar levels increase more rapidly over the three-year period.
This accelerated rise puts individuals who began with normal blood sugar at an increased risk of developing prediabetes and diabetes earlier than others in their community, explained Dr. Robert Sargis, an associate professor at the College of Medicine.
Sargis, senior author of the study in clinical medicine pointed out that timing is crucial. He further indicated that the earlier diabetes develops, the more severe the complications can become. The longer someone lives with diabetes, the more complications they face. This highlights the importance of getting patients into care as early as possible.
Researchers of the study indicated that the exact mechanisms by which arsenic and other metals increase diabetes risk remain unclear. Interestingly, the study found that certain metals, such as cobalt and zinc, were linked to lower blood sugar levels in the years following, suggesting that some elements may have a protective role. However, the concerning findings regarding arsenic and other toxic metals highlight their potential as environmental risk factors for diabetes, possibly opening new avenues for prevention.
Sargis indicated that unlike genetic factors, environmental exposures can be changed and there are steps we can take to bring down these risks.
He further pointed out the requirement to consider tools that have not yet been utilized to combat diabetes risk, and environmental policies could be a crucial lever to pull in improving public health outcomes.
