High Mercury Levels Raise Risk of Diabetes Type-2 by 65 Percent

High mercury levels during early ages can up the risk of diabetes type-2 by as much as 65 percent in the later years of life, according to a new study.

Mercury exposure is associated with brain and kidney damage. Pregnant women can pass mercury to their babies and so are advised to lower the consumption of foods known to contain high levels of mercury, such as sea food.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends that pregnant women must limit their total fish intake to no more than two 6-ounce servings per week.

The present study, conducted by a team of researchers led by Ka He, from Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, was based on medical records of more than 3,800 women and men. Researchers found that the link between diabetes and mercury levels remained even after they controlled for other factors like lifestyle and other dietary factors, such as intake of magnesium and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

He said that the study shows the importance of choosing sea food with low amounts of mercury exposure, especially for pregnant women.

"It is likely that the overall health impact of fish consumption may reflect the interactions of nutrients and contaminants in fish. Thus, studying any of these nutrients and contaminants such as mercury should consider confounding from other components in fish. In the current study, the association between mercury exposure and diabetes incidence was substantially strengthened after controlling for intake of LCn-3PUFAs (omega-3) and magnesium," He and the authors wrote in the study.

The study is published in the journal Diabetes Care.

In the U.S., the number of people being diagnosed with diabetes has tripled, from 5.6 million in 1980 to 26.9 million in 2010. According to the CDC, 1 in 3 U.S. adults will have diabetes by the year 2050. The condition is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and limb amputations not caused by an accident.