According to the findings of an intriguing new study, men are at a greater risk to develop Diabetes Type 2 diabetes compared to their female counterparts.
What compounds the male predicament is that they tend to accumulate more iron. Though, iron is a micronutrient that is vital for the formation of body proteins and enzymes, like haemoglobin, cytochromes and peroxidase, excess storage can be hazardous.
According to experts, too much iron content in the body trigger the release of free radicals that inhibit the secretion capacity of beta cells of pancreas to produce insulin. Additionally, it reduces insulin sensitivity in peripheral tissues and organs which play a big role in glucose metabolism.
In a bid to get some insight into the phenomenon, the researchers conducted a study. They focused on iron stores in three glycemic states: normoglycemia (normal blood sugar levels), pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes. As a part of the study, the link between insulin resistance and beta cell function with iron was explored along with gender disparity.
It was noted that pre-diabetes had the strongest association with body iron and impaired glucose metabolism. Also, that body iron predicted the danger of the disease. Moderate iron stores were found to be safer compared to iron deficiency which offered no protection against diabetes.
The study also found that men have 61 per cent higher prevalence of body iron and 46 per cent increased risk of the disease as opposed the fairer sex.
Lead author of the study, Alex O. Aregbesola from University of Eastern Finland stated, “This study provides a new body of evidence that mildly elevated body iron is an important risk factor of glucose metabolism derangement, which contributes to the increase in the prevalence and incidence of Type 2 diabetes.”
The findings of the research are published in the journal Annals of Clinical Biochemistry.
