Research has shown that living at higher altitudes lowers your risk of developing diabetes , but scientists haven't been able to pin down why that is – until now. A new study on mouse models of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, by researchers in the US, has found that as altitude increases and the air gets thinner , red blood cells become sponges for glucose, lowering blood sugar levels. Under conditions of chronic low oxygen in the inhaled air, red blood cells showed a threefold increase in glucose