Have you ever wondered if global warming is not just effecting your environment, but your health and well being? Studies have shown that when temperatures rise to extreme heat temperatures, a rise in cases where people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes comes into effect. This is a result of low levels of hydration in certain individuals. From 1996 to 2009, when outdoor temperatures were at their highest, so was the increase of people being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, claims a study in the BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care. According to Lisanne Blauw, a researcher at Leiden University Medical Center, she claims that a temperature raise by one degree celsius can spike 100,000 newly diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes in the US alone in simply just one year. “The researchers found that for every 1-degree Celsius increase in outdoor temperature, there was about a 4% increase of the total diabetes incidence in the United States per year between 1996 and 2009, Blauw said. An increase of 1 degree Celsius is equivalent to an increase of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit on the Fahrenheit temperature scale.
The worldwide prevalence of glucose intolerance rose by 0.17 percent per 1-degree Celsius increase in temperature, the researchers found.”
Some may wonder, why does only warm temperature spikes increase the risk of type 2 diabetes , well apparently in cold temperatures, a body fat called brown fat, comes into effect. “The function of brown fat tissue is to burn fat to generate heat, which is important to prevent a decline in body temperature during cold exposure. Therefore, we hypothesize that brown fat plays a role in the mechanism underlying the association between outdoor temperature and diabetes," Blauw said. "In warmer climates, brown fat may be less activated, which may causally lead to insulin resistance and diabetes.”
Some reports have said that the connection between climate change and type 2 diabetes has become a public health concern.
Concerned of becoming diabetic? Some ways you could help yourself out if by eating healthy, exercising daily, avoiding processed foods and foods high in sugar, and avoid consumption of access amounts of alcohol.
