Home Air Purifiers Cut Blood Sugar Spikes 8 Percent in Small Study

Running air purifiers at home for a month cut levels of harmful air pollution by 36 percent and was followed by smaller daily blood sugar spikes in 75 New Yorkers with prediabetes, according to researchers at NYU Langone Health. They presented the work last month at a conference of the American Heart Association.

Participants who slept in rooms with the machines saw an 8 percent drop in daily blood sugar spikes, the researchers reported. The study does not show that the filters caused the change, and it covered only one group in one city.

How the researchers tracked blood sugar

Each participant wore a sensor that measured blood sugar every few minutes. The team collected readings for a week before the test began and again after four weeks of filter use, so it could compare how daily blood sugar changed over time.

The group also used an AI tool that read the blood sugar patterns to work out when people were eating. That let them look at changes around breakfast. A similar drop in spikes was seen among participants who ate breakfast.

The purifiers used HEPA filters, which are designed to capture at least 99.97 percent of fine airborne particles that are 0.3 micrometer or larger.

How air pollution may reach blood sugar

Researchers believe the tiny polluting particles can pass into the bloodstream and set off inflammation, which can lead to diabetes and raise cardiovascular risks. How much air pollution contributes to rises in blood sugar is not completely clear.

Earlier research has found that air pollution contributes significantly to growing numbers of diabetes cases worldwide. That risk appears even at pollution levels the U.S. government considers safe.

What the authors say, and what the study cannot show

Lead author Dr. Sharine Wittkopp, of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said in a statement that cleaner air at home, especially in the bedroom, may help people with prediabetes keep their blood sugar steady and blunt morning spikes. She described filters as one tool that sits alongside healthy eating, regular exercise and prescribed medications.

Senior author Dr. Jonathan Newman said the results add to a growing body of evidence that poor air quality threatens heart and metabolic health as well as lung health. He said the findings support wider efforts to reduce air pollution.

The results may not apply to people who already have diabetes, or to people who live where the air is different from New York’s. The study points to benefits from reducing air pollution but does not prove that filtration caused the blood sugar improvements.

Why it matters: prediabetes is common and often unnoticed

The report puts the number of Americans with prediabetes at 115 million, most of whom do not know they have it. Prediabetes means blood sugar is higher than normal. It raises the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, and people who have large swings in blood sugar face more risk still.

A small group followed for four weeks cannot show whether cleaner indoor air changes who goes on to develop diabetes. That question is the target of the next round of work.

What the NYU team plans next

The NYU team plans longer-term studies. They will test whether air filtration can slow or stop the progression from prediabetes to diabetes. They will also look at whether it can lower the risk of heart attack, stroke and other signs of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, a cluster of related heart, kidney and metabolic problems.

Source: health