Deterioration of Pulmonary Functions in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a leading public health problem with increasing incidence and long term complications such as diabetic nephropathy, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic retinopathy etc. These complications are mainly a consequence of macrovascular and microvascular damages of the target organs.The presence of an extensive microvascular circulation and abundant connective tissue in the lungs, raises the possibility that lung tissue may be affected by microangiopathic process and non-enzymatic glycosylation of tissue proteins, induced by chronic hyperglycemia, there by rendering the lung a “target organ” in diabetic patients. Objectives: To study the effect of type 2 Diabetes and role of gender on pulmonary function. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study, the test group were Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus patients (n=50), the control group were staff of Narayana medical college (n=50). Written consent was obtained from them. The following pulmonary function parameters were recorded: Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in the first second (FEV1) , Forced Expiratory Volume percent (FEV1/FVC %), Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR), Forced Expiratory Flow 25-75% (FEF25-75%), Maximum Voluntary Ventilation (MVV). Result: The mean FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC%, PEFR, FEF25-75%, MVV values are low in diabetics (p value <0.001) compared to non-diabetics. Also, female diabetics show greater decrease in PFT values than male diabetics Conclusion: We conclude that diabetics show a decrease in PFT values compared to non-diabetics. Also, female diabetics are more prone to respiratory dysfunction than male diabetics. The findings of present study suggest that, lung is a target organ for damage in diabetes and the glycemic exposure is a strong determinant of reduced pulmonary function in type 2 diabetics.