Altitude effect on diabetes

[Cal]

Hahaha so get out of the house and don't be so couped up.

It is not the house, it is the town, so there is no escaping the problem except leaving the town.

My blood sugar readings continue to go down the longer I am away from Prescott, AZ.  I checked the Air Quality for Prescott, AZ, and found there the levels of everything are consistently lower the normal, so I am still not sure what the problem is.

So sorry Jeff, I did not intend to direct that towards you.

I am not familiar with any of this, but still I am left with the thought of chemical reactions, even the simplest of them. That saturation of materials that were not meant to be encountered have become commonplace. So we tend to see diabetes as more common in the US. Perhaps there is a combination of unique compositions that only exist here? I am curious, what exactly acts as the trigger in the human body to produce insulin? Also, is the lack of the issue at all, or rather some sort of reaction to the testing equipment used?

As we are looking at altitude, perhaps it is what is not present that causes the increase.

This is rather new-agish, but there are things floating around as to the effect that flouride has on the Pineal gland. Again, I know next to nothing about this, but flouride being added to tap water is something that comes to mind as being "unique" to the American population.

[Jhanananda]

You bring up a number of good points, Cal, which I am keeping in mind as I work my way through the question: Why does my blood sugar rise and evade control in Prescott, AZ?  It could be altitude, or a combination of things.  I am just going to go through the lengthy process of elimination to see where it leads me.

[Sam Lim]

Oxygen. That might be the problem. The higher one goes, the less oxygen one gets. That translates into sluggish transport system in the body (aka insulin a carrier for glucose) , which might means that the blood have more glucose.


Diabetes is helped, because sulfur is necessary in the production of insulin as well as other sulfur-based amino acids necessary for the metabolism of carbohydrates.

[Jhanananda]

Thanks, Sam, for your contribution to this topic.  Yes, it might just be O2.  Or it might be one of the other gasses that have caused people problems, such as carbon monoxide, and/or methane and/or radon.

Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs after enough inhalation of carbon monoxide (CO). Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas, but, being colorless, odorless, tasteless, and initially non-irritating, it is very difficult for people to detect. Carbon monoxide is a product of incomplete combustion of organic matter due to insufficient oxygen supply to enable complete oxidation to carbon dioxide (CO2). It is often produced in domestic or industrial settings by motor vehicles that run on gasoline, diesel, methane, or other carbon-based fuels and from tools, gas heaters, and cooking equipment that are powered by carbon-based fuels such as propane, butane and charcoal. Exposure at 100 ppm or greater can be dangerous to human health.[1]

Symptoms of mild acute poisoning will include light-headedness, confusion, headaches, vertigo, and flu-like effects; larger exposures can lead to significant toxicity of the central nervous system and heart, and death. Following acute poisoning, long-term sequelae often occur. Carbon monoxide can also have severe effects on the fetus of a pregnant woman. Chronic exposure to low levels of carbon monoxide can lead to depression, confusion, and memory loss. Carbon monoxide mainly causes adverse effects in humans by combining with hemoglobin to form carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO) in the blood. This prevents hemoglobin from carrying oxygen to the tissues, effectively reducing the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, leading to hypoxia. Additionally, myoglobin and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase are thought to be adversely affected. Carboxyhemoglobin can revert to hemoglobin, but the recovery takes time because the HbCO complex is fairly stable.

Treatment of poisoning largely consists of administering 100% oxygen or providing hyperbaric oxygen therapy, although the optimum treatment remains controversial.[2] Oxygen works as an antidote as it increases the removal of carbon monoxide from hemoglobin, in turn providing the body with normal levels of oxygen. The prevention of poisoning is a significant public health issue. Domestic carbon monoxide poisoning can be prevented by early detection with the use of household carbon monoxide detectors. Carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common type of fatal poisoning in many countries.[3] Historically, it was also commonly used as a method to commit suicide, usually by deliberately inhaling the exhaust fumes of a running car engine. Modern automobiles, even with electronically controlled combustion and catalytic converters, can still produce levels of carbon monoxide which will kill if enclosed within a garage or if the tailpipe is obstructed (for example, by snow) and exhaust gas cannot escape normally. Carbon monoxide poisoning has also been implicated as the cause of apparent haunted houses; symptoms such as delirium and hallucinations have led people suffering poisoning to think they have seen ghosts or to believe their house is haunted.[4]

Signs and symptoms

Carbon monoxide is not toxic to all forms of life. Its harmful effects are due to binding with hemoglobin so its danger to organisms that do not use this compound is doubtful. It thus has no effect on photosynthesising plants.[5] It is easily absorbed through the lungs.[6] Inhaling the gas can lead to hypoxic injury, nervous system damage, and even death. Different people and populations may have different carbon monoxide tolerance levels.[7] On average, exposures at 100 ppm or greater is dangerous to human health.[1] In the United States, the OSHA limits long-term workplace exposure levels to less than 50 ppm averaged over an 8-hour period;[8][9] in addition, employees are to be removed from any confined space if an upper limit ("ceiling") of 100 ppm is reached.[10] Carbon monoxide exposure may lead to a significantly shorter life span due to heart damage.[11] The carbon monoxide tolerance level for any person is altered by several factors, including activity level, rate of ventilation, a pre-existing cerebral or cardiovascular disease, cardiac output, anemia, sickle cell disease and other hematological disorders, barometric pressure, and metabolic rate.[12][13][14]

The acute effects produced by carbon monoxide in relation to ambient concentration in parts per million are listed below:[15][16]
Concentration    Symptoms
35 ppm (0.0035%)    Headache and dizziness within six to eight hours of constant exposure
100 ppm (0.01%)    Slight headache in two to three hours
200 ppm (0.02%)    Slight headache within two to three hours; loss of judgment
400 ppm (0.04%)    Frontal headache within one to two hours
800 ppm (0.08%)    Dizziness, nausea, and convulsions within 45 min; insensible within 2 hours
1,600 ppm (0.16%)    Headache, increased heart rate, dizziness, and nausea within 20 min; death in less than 2 hours
3,200 ppm (0.32%)    Headache, dizziness and nausea in five to ten minutes. Death within 30 minutes.
6,400 ppm (0.64%)    Headache and dizziness in one to two minutes. Convulsions, respiratory arrest, and death in less than 20 minutes.
12,800 ppm (1.28%)    Unconsciousness after 2–3 breaths. Death in less than three minutes.

Concentration    Source
0.1 ppm    Natural atmosphere level (MOPITT)[38]
0.5 to 5 ppm    Average level in homes[39]
5 to 15 ppm    Near properly adjusted gas stoves in homes[39]
100 to 200 ppm    Exhaust from automobiles in the Mexico City central area[40]
5,000 ppm    Exhaust from a home wood fire[41]
7,000 ppm    Undiluted warm car exhaust without a catalytic converter[41]
30,000 ppm    Afterdamp following an explosion in a coal mine[42]

Causes
Carbon monoxide is a product of combustion of organic matter under conditions of restricted oxygen supply, which prevents complete oxidation to carbon dioxide (CO2). Sources of carbon monoxide include cigarette smoke, house fires, faulty furnaces, heaters, wood-burning stoves,[43] internal combustion vehicle exhaust, electrical generators, propane-fueled equipment such as portable stoves, and gasoline-powered tools such as leaf blowers, lawn mowers, high-pressure washers, concrete cutting saws, power trowels, and welders.[18][33][44][45][46][47][48] Exposure typically occurs when equipment is used in buildings or semi-enclosed spaces.[18]

Poisoning may also occur following the use of a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) due to faulty diving air compressors.[49] Riding in pickup trucks has led to poisoning in children.[50] Idling automobiles with the exhaust pipe blocked by snow has led to the poisoning of car occupants.[51] Generators and propulsion engines on boats, especially houseboats, has resulted in fatal carbon monoxide exposures.[52][53] Another source of poisoning is exposure to the organic solvent dichloromethane, found in some paint strippers,[54] as the metabolism of dichloromethane produces carbon monoxide.[55][56][57] Any perforation between the exhaust manifold and shroud can result in exhaust gases reaching the cabin. In caves carbon monoxide can build up in enclosed chambers due to the presence of decomposing organic matter.[58]
Pathophysiology

The precise mechanisms by which the effects of carbon monoxide are induced upon bodily systems, are complex and not yet fully understood.[17] Known mechanisms include carbon monoxide binding to hemoglobin, myoglobin and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase and restricting oxygen supply, and carbon monoxide causing brain lipid peroxidation.[22][30][59]

[Jhanananda]

So another possible factor in why people in Prescott, AZ are experiencing diabetes in mid-life, might be due to accumulations of natural gas, as stated above, Prescott, AZ is a bowl, and it could accumulate various gasses at above healthy levels.

Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, but commonly including varying amounts of other higher alkanes, and sometimes a small percentage of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and/or hydrogen sulfide.[2] It is formed when layers of decomposing plant and animal matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure over thousands of years. The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in the gas.[3]

Natural gas is a fossil fuel used as a source of energy for heating, cooking, and electricity generation. It is also used as fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals. It is a non-renewable resource.[3]

Natural gas is found in deep underground rock formations or associated with other hydrocarbon reservoirs in coal beds and as methane clathrates. Petroleum is another resource and fossil fuel found in close proximity to, and with natural gas. Most natural gas was created over time by two mechanisms: biogenic and thermogenic. Biogenic gas is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, landfills, and shallow sediments. Deeper in the earth, at greater temperature and pressure, thermogenic gas is created from buried organic material.[4][5]

Natural Gas
How might I be exposed to natural gas?

You can be exposed to natural gas at home if you use natural gas in your heating furnace, stove, water heater, or clothes dryer. You can be exposed if you use appliances or lighting that runs on natural gas.

You can be exposed to natural gas at work if you work in a natural gas-fired electric power plant, a waste treatment or incineration plant, a restaurant with natural gas stoves, a glass melting facility, or combined heat and power plant. You can be exposed if you work in industries that involve pulp and paper, metals, chemicals, petroleum refining, stone, clay, glass, plastic, and food processing.

You can be exposed if you work in a restaurant, building, or facility that uses natural gas for space heating, water heating, cooling, cooking, and powering generators. You may also be exposed if you work at a gas station or vehicle service station or if you drive or service a vehicle that is fueled by natural gas.

How can natural gas affect my health?

Exposure to extremely high levels of natural gas can cause loss of consciousness or even death.

If a natural gas leak has occurred and is severe, oxygen can be reduced, causing dizziness, fatigue, nausea, headache, and irregular breathing.

Exposure to low levels of natural gas is not harmful to your health.

Which sounds to me like they really do not know.

Environmental health impacts of unconventional natural gas development: A review of the current strength of evidence

Highlights

•

    The main body of research is dominated by traditional environmental health issues.
•

    Highly relevant evidence of direct health outcomes caused by UNGD is lacking.
•

    There are few methodologically rigorous studies of UNGD and actual health outcomes.
•

    Most studies focus on short-term, rather than long-term, health impacts.
•

    The evidence (or lack thereof) is not sufficient to rule out possible health impacts.

Abstract

Rapid global expansion of unconventional natural gas development (UNGD) raises environmental health concerns. Many studies present information on these concerns, yet the strength of epidemiological evidence remains tenuous. This paper is a review of the strength of evidence in scientific reporting of environmental hazards from UNGD activities associated with adverse human health outcomes. Studies were drawn from peer-reviewed and grey literature following a systematic search. Five databases were searched for studies published from January 1995 through March 2014 using key search terms relevant to environmental health. Studies were screened, ranked and then reviewed according to the strength of the evidence presented on adverse environmental health outcomes associated with UNGD. The initial searches yielded > 1000 studies, but this was reduced to 109 relevant studies after the ranking process. Only seven studies were considered highly relevant based on strength of evidence. Articles spanned several relevant topics, but most focussed on impacts on typical environmental media, such as water and air, with much of the health impacts inferred rather than evidenced. Additionally, the majority of studies focussed on short-term, rather than long-term, health impacts, which is expected considering the timeframe of UNGD; therefore, very few studies examined health outcomes with longer latencies such as cancer or developmental outcomes. Current scientific evidence for UNGD that demonstrates associations between adverse health outcomes directly with environmental health hazards resulting from UNGD activities generally lacks methodological rigour. Importantly, however, there is also no evidence to rule out such health impacts. While the current evidence in the scientific research reporting leaves questions unanswered about the actual environmental health impacts, public health concerns remain intense. This is a clear gap in the scientific knowledge that requires urgent attention.