Children who live in areas with air traffic pollution are threatened by higher risk of insulin resistance that can lead to diabetes in adults, a new study suggests.
According to the study on 400 participants of 10-year-olds conducted by German researchers, air pollutants are oxidizers that can impact on lipids and proteins in the blood.
To measure the participated kidsâ„¢ glucose and insulin, they were asked for blood sampling.
The findings have demonstrated Å“insulin resistance climbed by 17 percent for every 10.6 micrograms per cubic meter increase in ambient nitrogen dioxide and by 19 percent for every 6 micrograms per cubic meter increase in particulate matter.”
Birth weight, body mass index (BMI) and exposure to second-hand smoke at home were also taken into account in the research results, according to the study report published in Diabetologia, the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.
Å“Exposure to fine pollution particles that invade the breathing system and get into the heart and blood vessels increases inflammation, which may be linked to insulin resistance,” clarified one of the study authors Joachim Heinrich of the German Research Center for Environmental Health.
Some experts believe that a larger study is required to confirm the possible link between air pollution and insulin resistance.
In the recent study Å“the measurements of blood insulin levels and estimates of pollution were taken at different times, so the findings should be regarded with caution,” said Jon Ayres, a professor of environmental and respiratory medicine at the University of Birmingham in England.
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This article originally appeared on : Press TV