Smoking worsens diabetes complications
- September 20, 2015, 8:28 pm
- Health News
- 153 Views
HQ City Desk
QUETTA: People with type 2 diabetes who smoke have significantly higher risks of heart disease, stroke, and death than diabetic non-smokers, a new study shows.
They also had higher risks of clogged arteries, heart failure, and reduced blood flow to the limbs.
The risks were lower for diabetics who quit smoking, but still moderately higher than risks among never smokers, the researchers write in the journal Circulation.
Lead author An Pan said that smoking is still common among people with diabetes, despite efforts to discourage it.
“We wanted to know whether smoking was related to total mortality and cardiovascular events among diabetic patients, and whether smoking cessation would reduce the risks,†said Pan, who is a professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking can worsen the health risks that go along with diabetes, such as heart and kidney disease, nerve damage, and blindness.
Pan’s team pooled the data from 89 earlier studies of smoking among adults with type 2 diabetes and found that diabetic smokers were around 1.5 times more likely to experience clogged arteries, stroke, overall heart disease, and heart failure.
