Diabetes linked to impaired lung function

For long, weakened lungs was something connected only with serial smokers, but lung degradation similar to that seen in smokers has been found by groundbreaking research that included 3,182 patients and 27,080 control subjects. The findings of the study included the immutable fact that Diabetes might cause irreversible damage to the lungs in a similar manner as smokers might.

Type 2 diabetes patients were worse hit than type 1 diabetes patients and had their lung capacity significantly more impaired. Researchers believe that these findings have grave repercussions for patients with lung diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) that could only worsen with an onset of diabetes. Previous studies have indicated omnipresent inflammation present in patients with COPD as well as diabetes. As long as any known pulmonary disease does not exist within a patient, diabetes could be attributed as the cause of moderate, but statistically significant impairment in lung function. On the back of these findings, speculation is rife that diabetes may accelerate lung degradation in those with a pre-exiting chronic lung condition, which inclused COPD.

The focus of researchers was on the role of inflammation in the body linked with COPD, diabetes and a host of other chronic diseases such as obesity. Linkages were established between diabetes and lung damage despite other factors weighing in, such as smoking, the period of time for which the patient had diabetes and blood sugar control. The long-term complications of Diabetes have been known to include disorders of the microvasculature and since the lung itself consists of a well-developed micro-vascular circulatory system it could be that the most telling effects of hyperglycemia (increased blood pressure) might manifest itself in the lungs. Pass this information to someone you know with diabetes and help keep everyone informed, because safety is better than trying to find a cure.