Type 2 Diabetes - Obesity, Arsenic, and Diabetes

Being overweight or obese poses a risk for developing type 2 diabetes by contributing to inflammation in the body and free radicals. Arsenic has many of the same effects and ...

• can cause high blood sugar levels, as well
• causing damage to beta cells in the pancreas.

Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley, USA, and various other research institutions in the United States and Chile, have found that exposure to arsenic, especially in obese individuals, may increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Their investigation was reported in July 2018 in the journal Environmental Research, including 1053 individuals with known blood arsenic levels ...

• Participants with the highest levels of arsenic are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and this relationship is particularly important in obese individuals.
• participants with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30 - obese; nearly two and a half times more likely to have type 2 diabetes than nonobese participants with lower arsenic exposure.

Arsenic is found in the Earth's crust and is absorbed by plants, so in some of the foods we eat ...

• seafood,
• chicken,
• rice and rice products

is an unusually high arsenic. According to Consumer Reports chocolate brown rice from California, India, and Pakistan has the lowest arsenic content. Organic rice growth does not reduce arsenic content because arsenic is absorbed from the soil. Contaminated groundwater is another source.

Arsenic is released into the environment from treated arsenic at the landfill and from a power plant that burns coal. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, USA, the following jobs, and the industry puts workers at risk for arsenic exposure ...

• construction and carpentry,
• smelting of ore,
• semiconductor manufacturing,
• the manufacture of metal alloys,
• chicken and pork fields,
• electronic manufacturing, and
• pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides.

Signs and symptoms of arsenic toxicity include ...

• sleepy,
• Headache,
• confusion,
• diarrhea,
• taste of metal in mouth and "oily" breath
• a huge amount of saliva,
• difficulty swallowing,
• blood in the urine,
• muscle cramp,
• hair loss,
• stomach cramps,
• dizziness and vomiting,
• seizures,
• dark skin,
• new skin or warts, and
• numbness and tingling.

Blood and urine tests for arsenic poisoning are available. When arsenic is suspected to be electrocardiograms (EKGs), and neural conduction studies are performed because arsenic can be toxic to the heart and nervous system.

Arsenic toxicity can also cause cancer ...

• bladder,
• kidney,
• heart,
• prostate
• lungs - the worst prognosis, and
• skin - most common.

Low levels may not be harmful to your health, but higher levels can cause some of the above health problems.

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