Research conducted on climbers atop Mount Everest offers new insight into the biological triggers for Type 2 diabetes. Specifically, the British investigators learned more about how low oxygen levels in the body (hypoxia) may be linked with insulin resistance, a risk factor for diabetes. Insulin resistance occurs when cells in the body fail to respond to insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Increases in several indicators of insulin resistance occurred when the climbers were exposed to hypoxia at high altitudes for six to eight weeks. These changes were linked with increased blood levels of markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, according to the study in the April 14 issue of the journal PLOS One. These results have given us useful insight into the clinical problem of insulin resistance. Fat tissue in obese people is believed to exist in a chronic state of mild hypoxia because the small blood vessels are unable to supply sufficient oxygen to fat tissue, study leader Mike Grocott, a professor of anesthesia and critical care at the University of Southampton, said in a university news release.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 18:21:16 +0000
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