Using Air Purifiers During Sleep May Improve Blood Sugar Control In Prediabetics, Study Suggests

Using portable filters which clean particulate matter from air, or air purifiers, during sleep may help improve blood sugar control among prediabetics, a new study suggests.

The study, published in the American Heart Journal, found that using portable filters to reduce exposure to air pollution during sleep stabilised large spikes in blood sugar experienced by people with prediabetes, a condition in which sugar or glucose levels are higher than normal.

Researchers led by those at New York University, US, assessed more than 150 men and women with prediabetes who did not have any known buildup of cholesterol in their arteries, a condition called atherosclerosis.

Prediabetes raises the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and large swings in blood sugar during the day are tied to worsening disease.

Air pollution has been linked to both prediabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, it is unclear whether using high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters at home could improve blood sugar control, the researchers said.

HEPA filtration systems can remove more than 99 per cent of airborne particles sized 0.3 microns in diameter.

"Our findings suggest that (a) cleaner air at home, especially in the bedroom, may help people with prediabetes keep their blood sugar steady and blunt morning spikes," lead author and cardiologist Sharine L. Wittkopp, a clinical instructor in New York University's school of medicine's department of medicine and its division of cardiology, said.

"Installing HEPA filters offers an easy, low cost tool to help protect heart and metabolic health along with healthy eating, regular exercise, and prescribed medications," Wittkopp said.

Half the study participants slept with real bedroom air filters for about a month, while the other half used sham filters that did not clean air. The real filters cut levels of tiny, harmful air particles by 36 per cent, the researchers said.

The participants wore continuous glucose monitors, small sensors that track blood sugar every few minutes, for one week before and again after four weeks of filtration so the researchers could see how daily blood sugar changed over time.

A cleaner air was linked to a drop in daily blood sugar swings and smaller morning sugar surges after breakfast. The total extra glucose in the blood after eating breakfast was found to fall on average, while peak levels following breakfast decreased.

"... demonstrating clinically meaningful reductions in cardiometabolic risk through personal air pollution reduction may have important implications for health policy and air quality regulation, particularly as millions of individuals remain exposed to unsafe levels of particulate matter," the authors wrote.

"Our results add to a growing body of evidence that poor air quality is a threat not only to lung health but to heart and metabolic health as well," senior author Jonathan Newman, an associate professor in New York University's school of medicine's department of medicine and its division of cardiology, said.

"These findings support broader efforts to reduce air pollution and suggest that healthcare providers should consider indoor air quality when helping patients manage their cardiometabolic risk," Newman said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)