Two researchers at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital released a study result on Tuesday, which stresses the need for people with poor lung function to monitor their health, especially the possibility of diabetes closely.

Diabetes mellitus is a systemic inflammatory disease in which high blood sugar persists for a long time. Prior studies have shown a decrease in lung capacity due to chronic inflammation in diabetic patients. In addition, researchers have published studies on diabetes in patients with chronic airway diseases such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

However, few studies analyzed the association between lung function and the development of diabetes by following up on undiagnosed adults for years.

The research team, led by Professors Kim Hun-sung of the Department of Endocrinology and Lee Hwa-young of the Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, analyzed and compared diabetes development and lung function in 17,568 healthy adults who received a health checkup at the hospital from March 2009 to October 2012. They had not had diabetes and received at least two lung function tests in six years.

Among them, 152 (0.9 percent) had diabetes, and the team performed a multiple logistic regression analysis to determine the relationship between diabetes onset and multiple variables.

After adjusting for age, gender, and body mass index, the team found that the group with a forced expiratory volume in one second and forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) ratio of 78-82 percent had a 40 percent lower risk of diabetes than the group with an FEV1/FVC ratio of 86 percent or higher.

The FEV1/FVC ratio represents airway resistance, and the team identified it as a predictor of future diabetes incidence in healthy adults.

By analyzing the correlation between pulmonary function and glycated hemoglobin followed for six years in the same person, the team also confirmed a negative correlation -- lower the pulmonary function test value led to higher glycated hemoglobin.

The research team said the study is significant. It analyzed the blood test results, including the six-year follow-up lung function, clinical characteristics, and glycated hemoglobin of non-diabetic patients with large-scale data.

Through this study, the research team found that decreased lung function and airway resistance are related to blood sugar and lungs and that managing lung health will help prevent diabetes.

Endocrinology and Metabolism published the results of the study in its December issue.