Yale U.: ‘Climate change is worsening diabetes worldwide’ – ‘A warming world makes diabetes deadlier’

Climate change is worsening diabetes worldwide

Heat waves exacerbate the danger of the disease.

Headed for a routine doctor visit last year, Asha Sonawane, 63, collapsed after stepping outside her house in Bhadole village of India’s Maharashtra state as temperatures soared past 40 degrees Celsius (104 F). Her daughter Alka rushed to her with lime water and an energy drink, which relieved her a bit. But her legs hurt and she felt weak.

Dehydration in extreme heat had exacerbated Sonawane’s diabetes mellitus – a chronic medical condition in which blood glucose levels are too high – her doctor later explained.

World Health Organization data shows diabetes has skyrocketed by 315% since 1990, with cases surging in low- and middle-income countries. A 2017 study indicated that rising heat may explain some of that rise, perhaps by reducing the activity of a certain kind of fat. The researchers found that a one-degree Celsius rise in temperature could cause over 100,000 new diabetes cases annually in the U.S. alone.

In 2021, more than 2 million people worldwide died from diabetes and related kidney diseases, and more than half those affected by diabetes did not take medications in 2022. Still more could suffer as global warming exacerbates the disease. One study found that in a high-emission scenario, China’s heat-related diabetes mortality could multiply eightfold by the 2090s.

In 2024, the Earth’s average temperature for the first time climbed 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial revolution level, the limit targeted by the 196 countries that signed the Paris Agreement in 2015. With that level breached, scientists warn of graver consequences as the Earth warms. …

As heat-trapping gases cause the climate to warm, one often overlooked consequence of extreme heat is its impact on people with diabetes mellitus: 830 million people globally, 101 million of them in India. …

World Health Organization data shows diabetes has skyrocketed by 315% since 1990, with cases surging in low- and middle-income countries. A 2017 study indicated that rising heat may explain some of that rise, perhaps by reducing the activity of a certain kind of fat. The researchers found that a one-degree Celsius rise in temperature could cause over 100,000 new diabetes cases annually in the U.S. alone.

In 2021, more than 2 million people worldwide died from diabetes and related kidney diseases, and more than half those affected by diabetes did not take medications in 2022. Still more could suffer as global warming exacerbates the disease. One study found that in a high-emission scenario, China’s heat-related diabetes mortality could multiply eightfold by the 2090s.

A 2022 U.S. study found that extreme outdoor temperatures, whether very high or low, increased the risk of some life-threatening conditions for people with type 2 diabetes. Those included hypoglycemia, meaning low blood sugar, and ventricular arrhythmia, a condition in which the heart beats too fast, too slow, or erratically, leading to fainting or sudden cardiac arrest.

Studies show more hospitalizations among people with diabetes due to extreme heat and dust.

Climate change also threatens health care infrastructure, which affects people with diabetes and many others. Alahmad stressed that health care systems must be resilient.

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