A 1-degree Celsius outdoor temperature increase would result in more than 100,000 new diabetes cases per year, based on a 2015 U.S. population of nearly 322 million people, a new study suggests.
The study was published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care. Researchers gathered data from the National Diabetes Surveillance System of the CDC on diabetes incidence in the 50 U.S. states from 1996 to 2013. They said they restricted their analysis to the time period between 1996 and 2009, and then compared that data to National Centers for Environmental Information data on the mean annual temperature per state.
They found with a 1-degree Celsius average annual outdoor temperature increase, the age-adjusted diabetes incidence increased by 0.314 per 1,000 people. They also found when the average annual outdoor temperature increases, the prevalence of obesity rose 0.173 percent, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Researchers said West Virginia and South Carolina are among the states where the age-adjusted diabetes incidence rate was highest, while the incidence rate was lowest in Minnesota, Massachusetts and Colorado.
"These findings emphasize the importance of future research into the effects of environmental temperature on glucose metabolism and the onset of diabetes, especially in view of the global rise in temperatures with a new record set for the warmest winter in the USA last year," the study's authors conclude.
Read the full study here.
More articles on population health:
CDC names top 10 cities with highest percentage of coronary heart disease
University of Alabama launches statewide genomic analysis project
Mission Health Partners taps Forecast Health for predictive analytics