Those with blood types A or B may be more at risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, according to findings by researchers at the Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France as reported by Science World Report on Monday.
Guy Fagherazzi studied data on 82,104 women belonging to a group of about 100,000 female teachers that began 24 years ago.
Over 3,000 women that were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes between 1990 and 2008 were identified through health questionnaires. Between 1995 and 1997, the women had their blood samples taken.
Women who had A blood type were 10 percent more likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, the study found, when compared to those with an O blood type. When compared with other blood types, women with Type B were about 21 percent more likely to go on to have the chronic medical condition. The researchers did note that these findings were not significant when it comes to statistics.
Despite the findings, researchers have not been able to establish a clear answer as to why certain blood types increase diabetes risk. They think the results could apply to men as well even though the study was done on women.
Roughly 29 million people in the United States have diabetes and it's the 7th leading cause of death.
