Reframing Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder, which prevents the body’s ability to regulate glucose, it can turn into a lifelong condition, when it is not caught early or left untreated. Type 2 diabetes can also go on to affect the function of the heart, nervous system, circulatory system, digestion, and sleep/wake cycle. By 2030, 552 million people will be diagnosed with diabetes with 95% being cases of Type 2 diabetes.

Genetics are not the full story when it comes to non communicable diseases such as diabetes.

Genes are a unit of heredity, meaning they store biological information that is passed down from one generation to another, including the susceptibility of a disease (source). This has led disease like Type 2 diabetes to be studied from the perspective of genes (source). In more recent years the western diet has also been highlighted as a factor in the aetiology of Type 2 diabetes. However, we must also look at another crucial dimension, geography. Research indicates how geographical location also plays a role in the development of Type 2 diabetes (source). A recent study highlighted how the significant geographical variation in global distribution of Type 2 diabetes is linked to air pollution (source).

Given that distribution of air pollution is driven by systemic strategies, it is very important that we take geospatial factors into consideration when studying the aetiology of Type 2 diabetes (source).