New Study Confirmed a Link between Cigarette Smoking and Type 2 Diabetes




A new analysis of multiple published studies has shown that cigarette smokers run an increased risk of contracting adult-onset diabetes, in comparison with those who never smoked.


Canadian scientists have made a review of 25 scientific trials, the data on which were reported within a period from 2006 to 2006. The findings, based on over 1.2 patient health histories, have been published at the prestigious Journal of The American Medical Association.

Within the 10-year study period, about 46,000 participants developed type 2 diabetes. The analysis showed that, at the average, smokers had almost a 50 percent increase at the risk of contracting diabetes, compared to non-smoking subjects. At that, heavy smokers were at a greater risk of developing the disease (a 61 percent increase) than those who smoked less (a 23 percent increase).

Study researcher Dr. William Ghali from Calgary has pointed out that smokers who puff more than 20 cigarettes a day are more likely to develop adult-onset diabetes than “light smokers” who consume less than 10 cigarettes a day. At that, non-smokers are less likely to get the disease than both heavy and light smokers.

While scientists still do not know for sure how tobacco influences the development of diabetes, they suggest that poisons contained in cigarette smoke may contribute to insulin resistance that interferes with the metabolic process of absorbing and storing glucose. As the result, blood sugar levels tend to rise, eventually leading to the onset and progression of type 2 diabetes.

It is estimated that, currently, over two million Canadian citizens are living with different stages of adult-onset diabetes, and many require daily insulin injections in order to stay alive. According to the data of the Canadian Diabetes Association, diabetes complications cost the health care system about 13 billion loonies a year, and this number can double by the year 2025.

Dr. Ehud Ur, a diabetes specialist from Halifax, says that this research dismisses the myth that cigarette smoking can prevent the development of diabetes by keeping body weight down. Now we know for sure that smoking can only speed the progression of this serious disease, he added.

Jimmy Edwards

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Posted on June 17, 2008 
Filed Under Facts on Smoking, Smoking and Health, Stop Smoking News, Tobacco Research

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