Type 2 Diabetes May Increase the Risk for Tuberculosis

New research from the University of Texas School of Public Health Brownsville Regional Campus (UTSPH) suggest that people who have type 2 diabetes might be at greater risk for contracting tuberculosis (TB), than people who don't have diabetes.

According to a press release from UTSPH, that outlines results from 3 new studies:

• Type 2 diabetes, especially Type 2 diabetes involving chronic high blood sugar, is associated with altered immune response to TB, and this was particularly marked in patients with chronically high blood sugar.
• Patients with diabetes and TB take longer to respond to anti-TB treatment.
• Patients with active tuberculosis and Type 2 diabetes are more likely to have multi-drug resistant TB.

With the results of these new studies from UTSPH, Joseph B. McCormick, M.D., regional dean, is quoted as saying, "It opens a door to doing something about it," said McCormick, the university's James H. Steele Professor. "We can educate physicians and offer more TB screenings. We have an opportunity to make sure patients are diagnosed correctly and that there is no delay in diagnosis."

What can you do, as a person with diabetes, to protect yourself from a disease like tuberculosis?

• Keep good control of your blood sugar levels. The risk of TB goes up when hyperglycemia is uncontrolled.
• Because TB is an airborne disease it is difficult to protect yourself from it. If an infected person coughs, sneezes or otherwise expels respiratory secretions into the air, it places others at risk for inhaling the droplets and contacting the disease. Be careful when in areas where the prevalence of tuberculosis is greater. Places that are over-crowded with little ventilation are more likely to contribute to the spread of TB.

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