14 DAY TRIAL // People suffering from Type 2 diabetes are at much higher risk of contracting tuberculosis (TB) than the rest, a new study revealed. This discovery is very alarming, as, according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, more than 180 million people in the world today suffer from diabetes, with the number scheduled to double by 2030. Also, in some, countries, more than one third of the population is infected with tuberculosis and each patient who carries the active virus and doesn't know it can infect between 10 and 15 other each year.
It goes without saying that if the two diseases learned to "work together," they could give birth to new hybrids. Some forms of TB are already immune to a large spectrum of drugs and diabetes has currently no cure. Third world countries are most exposed to this public health risk, with them having the highest rates of disease transmission in the world today. The scientists from Brownsville Regional Campus, at University of Texas School of Public Health, who conducted this new research, found that diabetes cripples the human immune system and opens the door for an easier onset of all forms of TB.
Patients with chronically high blood sugar levels are very prone to developing TB, as well as very serious lung infections due to the weak response their immune systems give to the disease. Doctors say that the strain placed on the human body by both diseases is simply too great for it to handle. In addition, regular TB treatments take longer before they attack the virus if the host had diabetes beforehand. Furthermore, patients who have the active TB strain and Type 2 diabetes are more likely to develop a form of tuberculosis that is resistant to conventional treatments.
Researchers found that patients with both diseases have an immune system that reacts to medication in a way very different from people who only have one affliction. "This immune impairment may be what makes patients with diabetes so susceptible to TB," said epidemiology professor Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, M.D. Prevention is the best method of not contracting any of the diseases, but if that's not the case, medical tests and screens need to scan those Type 2 diabetes sufferers who also exhibit strong cough. "If they are visiting an area where there is a lot TB, they need to be careful. TB spreads in crowded places with poor ventilation," Fisher-Hoch concluded.