Physicians may soon be telling patients to do more than eat right and exercise to avoid type 2 diabetes, according to a scientific review published today.

Recent animal and human studies suggest that ingesting bisphenol-A (BPA) – a compound found in many plastics – may also increase the risk of developing the disease. The review, which surveys more than 90 studies of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) including BPA, appears today in Nature Reviews Endocrinology.

Rodents fed a diet supplemented with BPA develop insulin resistance and lose the ability to maintain normal blood glucose levels — early warning signs of type 2 diabetes. And a 2010 study hints that pregnant mice fed these substances might pass on these risks to their male pups.

Studies of humans have offered less consistent results. But according to an analysis of the 2003-2004 US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) of nearly 1,500 people, the quartile with the highest amounts of BPA in their urine were nearly three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than the lowest quartile.

Although experts say that larger epidemiological studies are needed to conclusively link so-called endocrine disrupting chemicals such as BPA to type 2 diabetes, the authors of the review nevertheless argue that there is sufficient evidence to warrant avoiding these substances.

“[Physicians] should consider advising patients on those EDCs that may be risk factors for type 2 diabetes,” wrote lead author Angel Nadal of Miguel Hernandez University of Elche in Spain. “Moreover, public health policy should be readdressed for those EDCs, such as BPA, for which use is unrestricted.”

Image: shrff14, Flickr