
New research shows the likelihood of a patient developing type 2 diabetes if they already have asthma – and vice versa. If someone has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the odds are high they’ll develop asthma. Researchers are calling this a reciprocal relationship.
The unique discovery from the study, “The Association Between Asthma and Type 2 Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Including 17 Million Individuals,” was presented as an abstract at the 2024 European Association for the Study of Diabetes Annual Meeting in Madrid, Spain. Researchers at Taipei Medical University’s College of Medicine in Taipei, Taiwan, presented the study.
“The global rates of asthma and type 2 diabetes, both of which are common health issues, are on the rise,” said the study’s lead author Nam Nhat Nguyen, MD, PhD, of the university, in a press release. “These conditions negatively impact an individual's quality of life and are expected to create an increasing medical and economic burden. However, the evidence linking the two and the mechanisms behind this connection remain unclear, highlighting the need for comprehensive research into their association.”
The study findings underscore the importance of screening and exercising preventive measures for both conditions. Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing research on the topic, searching four medical journal databases for studies that looked at the connection between asthma and type 2 diabetes.
The meta-analysis included data on 17 million individuals from 14 studies conducted in a diverse range of continents and countries, including Europe (UK, Finland and Denmark), the United States and Asia (Korea, Singapore, China and Israel). Most of the participants were middle-aged, ranging from 50 to 70 years old.
The results showed that asthma and diabetes have a reciprocal relationship: Individuals with asthma are 28% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those without asthma and individuals with type 2 diabetes are almost twice as likely (83% more likely) to develop asthma than those without type 2 diabetes.
Researchers believe the two conditions may share some of the same underlying causes or have other factors in common. Further analysis indicated that several factors, including hypertension and dyslipidemia (unhealthy levels of blood fats such as cholesterol), appear to be associated with an increased risk of both asthma and type 2 diabetes.
Researchers noted that greater asthma severity was associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. However, asthma duration was not associated with type 2 diabetes risk.
“Our findings have important implications for clinical practice,” Dr. Nguyen said. “First, this relationship emphasizes the need for greater awareness among patients with type 2 diabetes or asthma and their health care providers. Secondly, preventive strategies should be considered to lower the risk of type 2 diabetes in individuals with asthma.”
As an example, Dr. Nguyen said that screening for and addressing prediabetes in asthma patients before it develops into type 2 diabetes is important, as is managing the use of systemic corticosteroids, which can cause temporary hyperglycemia and are linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
“The potential shared mechanistic pathways between asthma and type 2 diabetes proposed by our study offers a new framework for research,” Dr. Nguyen said.