Diabetes

1.5 million Australians – almost five per cent of the population – live with diabetes. While links with obesity and diet are well known, air pollution is also a significant modifiable risk factor. In 2021, nearly 10% of diabetes related deaths in Australia were attributed to air pollution. In this webinar researchers presented findings regarding the links between diabetes and air pollution, and what this tells us about how to reduce diabetes in Australia: Professor Joachim Heinrich, Head of Population Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich; and Yiwen Zhang, PhD candidate and member of the Climate, Air Quality Research in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. The webinar and a live Q&A was facilitated by Dr Sabrina Idrose, Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Safe Air, Melbourne University. Access the YouTube recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX26t3YnWkg
In this submission, we bring to your attention the extent of the scientific literature that demonstrates many links between air pollution and diabetes, including the following: Air pollution is risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes; Air pollution is a risk factor for the development of gestational diabetes; Air pollution is a risk factor for dysregulation of blood glucose, and increases the risk of acute diabetic problems; Air pollution may be associated with obesity which is risk factor for type 2 diabetes.

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