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People who know that they suffer from type 2 diabetes just won’t quit their bad habits, even if they know that having a healthy lifestyle is a must. Just because something doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful. You just won’t face the consequences right now, but in a few years’ time.
Statistics show that there are many people who suffer from type 2 diabetes and are still smokers. It was reported that as much as 20 percent of them smoke tobacco cigarettes in spite of being advised to quit.
A new study shows further evidence that smoking is a very harmful habit for these people. The researchers proved that smokers who also have diabetes face a much higher risk of suffering from heart disease, clogged arteries, strokes, reduced blood flow to their legs and arms or premature death than diabetics who are not smokers.
Even if the people who have diabetes and don’t smoke will always have slimmer chances of developing such conditions, the diabetic smokers still have the opportunity to be healthier and stay alive simply by quitting the addictive habit.
“Smoking cessation still remains a major target for patients who smoke. We also found that former smokers had substantially reduced risks compared with current smokers, although not totally returned to the risk of never smokers, suggesting that quitting smoking is beneficial in the long run for diabetic patients,” said study authorr An Pan, who works at Tongji Medical College of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, from China.
In order to reach these conclusions, the researchers analyzed 89 studies that looked at the effect smoking had on people who suffered from type 2 diabetes. It was shown that diabetic smokers face a 1.5 times higher chance of having clogged arteries, or of suffering from a stroke, heart attack and heart disease. Smoking also doubles the likelihood of them experiencing peripheral artery disease.
Diabetics who used to smoke but quit have 1.2 higher chances of having clogged arteries and face 1.1 increased risk of heart disease than diabetics who never smoked.
According to the researchers, on a global scale, smoking is responsible for almost 15 percent of the deaths of men suffering from diabetes and more than three percent of deaths in women.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance to start quitting the bad habits, including smoking, especially if you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
The results of the study were published in the journal Circulation on August 26.
Image Source: diabetescare
