WASHINGTON.The evidence suggests that some chemical substances, especially those in the smoke of cigarettes, can cause diabetes and obesity, said investigators of the US government.
A committee designated by the National Toxicology program examined studies looking for links between diabetes and chemicals and chemicals such as arsenic, or products found in plastics, pesticides and cigarette smoke.
"Some of these associations are quite strong," said Michael Gallo, from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, who directed a two -day workshop in North Carolina that ended Thursday.
Especially strong was the relationship between smoking during pregnancy and a subsequent risk of the child to end up being obese and develop type 2 diabetes. "It is consistent with our idea of how diabetes and obesity develop," Gallo told journalists inA telephone conference.
When a pregnant woman smokes, the baby is usually born with little weight.This can trigger a chain of mechanisms that end up in obesity, which in turn can cause diabetes type 2. Gallo and other researchers emphasized that at least 70 percent of cases of obesity and diabetes are directly related topoor food and an important lack of exercise.
However, some cases of diabetes, especially in thin people, are more difficult to explain.The National Toxicology Program, part of the National Institutes of Environmental Sciences and Health, organized the workshop to determine the strength of LasPruebas.
"These data really show us that there is biological credibility with respect to these chemicals," said Galle, who added that it is impossible to say how many cases of diabetes may be related to chemical substances."We do not have enough data. Animal experiments that have been done to date have not really been designed to quantify," he said.
The US veteran affairs department recognizes that dioxin, the main component of the orange agent used to deforest forests during the Vietnam War, can cause diabetes.Last year, 270,000 Vietnam veterans were compensated for the development of diabetes linked to exposure to dioxin.
