Why Diabetics Should Not Smoke

It’s old news that smoking is bad for your health and can increase your risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke and many other serious diseases. But if you currently have diabetes, new research from researchers at California State Polytechnic University may give you yet another reason to quit.

The nicotine in cigarettes is particularly dangerous for diabetics, the study revealed, as it increases your blood sugar levels as well as your risk of diabetes complications. Levels of nicotine in the blood similar to that of a smoker’s raised HbA1c levels – a measure of the average amount of sugar in the blood for the past several weeks – by up to 34 percent.

The researchers speculated that nicotine may interfere with the way glucose attaches to proteins, leading to the increase in sugar levels. They also pointed out that increasing HbA1c levels by just 1 percent raises your risk of complications by 40 percent.

Past studies have also linked smoking to an increased risk of diabetes complications. In fact, cigarette smoking is known to increase the risk of eye disease, heart disease, stroke, vascular disease, kidney disease, nerve damage and foot problems in diabetics.

So if you have diabetes, you should know that smoking may make the condition more difficult to manage while increasing your risk of serious complications. And if you don’t, smoking will significantly increase your risk of developing the disease. One study found that smoking 16-25 cigarettes a day increased the risk of diabetes by more than three-fold compared to smoking none. Even exposure to second-hand smoke can increase your diabetes risk!

If you smoke, quitting is one of several lifestyle changes you can make to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes, and make the condition easier to control if you already have it.

National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society, Anaheim, California, March 27, 2011

LiveScience March 30, 2011

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