Diabetes makes people more vulnerable to TB, study says

[Thunderwolf, MSN, RN]

"with an estimated 171 million people afflicted with diabetes, a figure which is expected to double by year 2030, it is clear that [diabetes] constitutes a substantial contributor to the current and future burdens of tb globally," epidemiologist megan murray, who conducted the research with harvard colleague christie jeon, said by e-mail from rwanda.

tb kills about 1.7 million people a year, according to the world health organization. by region, asia has the most cases of tb while africa has the highest rates.

the findings indicate global tb control efforts might benefit from giving extra attention to diabetics when dealing with people with latent tb infections, the researchers said.

"those areas most affected are those in which the burden of [diabetes] is high and tb is still active. those would include india, areas of latin america where [diabetes] rates are high, and specific populations such as some native american populations in the u.s. which experience high [diabetes] and tb incidence," ms. murray added.

full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/rtgam.20080714.wdiabetestb0714/bnstory/specialscienceandhealth/home

[jeepgirl, LPN, NP]

Not surprised.

I think that for diabetic patients you actually read their TB as positive at a smaller MM of induration because of their supressed immune systems...

[KarmaInMotion]

Argh... and let's not forget about diabetes and the its effects on the kidneys. Around me I notice dialysis centers keep filling and are constantly trying to expand to accomidate the growing need. I think people are ignoring how diabetes is going to affect our global health and won't realize it until we are at a critical point.

[TalldiNY]

Just thought I would mention that in the 70's I worked on both of the Chippewa reservations in the upper peninsula of Michigan. There was a TB outbreak and it spread like wildfire. It was traced back to one man who returned to Sugar Island from service on the Great Lakes transports. There was indeed a high incidence of diabetes within our populations. I did notice that obesity was also present. But the knowledge we have now to look at the relationships between such illnesses was not really available then. In a land where 9 months of winter was the norm and people were indoors for all of it it made "sense" at the time.