Second year SGU Medical student John Pearson has been involved in a ground-breaking study which suggests a strong link between air pollution and diabetes. This large-scale, population-based study, which looked at the influence fine particulates found in vehicle exhaust, haze and smoke have on populations, is among the first to establish a link between the prevalence of diabetes and air pollution, supporting previous findings based on experimental research with mice. Pearson, who served as the first author on the report, commented, “I feel really excited at the attention the research has received. The research highlights how environment and population interact with health in the most unexpected ways.”

Pearson is from Boston, Massachusetts and prior to medical school volunteered at diabetes camps in his area. For this epidemiological study, he worked closely with Dr. John Bronstein of the Children’s Hospital Boston. With the use of data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the United States Census, they analyzed the occurrence of diabetes among adults, taking into account risk factors such as obesity, diet, exercise, ethnicity, education, gender, age, income, geographic latitude and population density.

After analyzing the data, Brownstein noted, “…pollution came across as a significant predictor in all our models.” Based on the findings, areas in south-east USA appear to show the strongest relationship between pollution and diabetes. Endocrinologist Joel Zonszein of Montefiore Medical Centre, the Bronx, New York explained, “They found there was a linear relationship – the higher the exposure, the bigger the relationship”. More research would need to be conducted though, before a cause and effect relationship can be established. The report was submitted to the American Diabetes Association, published in the October issue of Diabetes Care and reported on in USA Today.

Pearson hopes that similar research can be carried out in China, India and Latin America where there are high levels of pollution and spikes of diabetes occurrences. A large-scale individual study would be needed to research the topic further, looking at the nature of the community and lifestyle patterns, as well as transportation systems.