Diabetogenic environmental factors

The risk for developing type 2 diabetes mellitus is strongly influenced by characteristics of our physical and social environment. In particular, these environmental factors influence individual physical activity levels as well as dietary behavior. They further include established risk factors such as exposure to tobacco smoke and air pollution. In the past years, additional potential environmental risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus have received scientific attention, including ambient noise and other stress-inducing influences as well as chemicals with endocrine effects. In the present article, the state of research on environmental risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus is presented. The article furthermore discusses how these risk factors can be mitigated, and how diabetes professionals and patients with diabetes can contribute to this endeavor.