Smoking and Diabetes

Guest Post from David Mapletoft, Diabetes Educator

Smokers are 30–40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than nonsmokers. And people with diabetes who smoke are more likely than nonsmokers to have trouble with insulin dosing and with controlling their condition.

The more cigarettes you smoke, the higher your risk for type 2 diabetes. No matter what type of diabetes you have, smoking makes your diabetes harder to control.

If you have diabetes and you smoke, you are more likely to have serious health problems from diabetes. Smokers with diabetes have higher risks for serious complications, including:

• Heart disease: “Cigarette smoking plays a more important role in the causation of a first myocardial infarction or fatal heart attack and appears to have more influence on the incidence of coronary heart disease in Australia than hypertension.” More here
• Kidney disease
• Poor blood flow in the legs and feet that can lead to infections, ulcers, and possible amputation (removal of a body part by surgery, such as toes or feet)
• Retinopathy (an eye disease that can cause blindness)
• Peripheral neuropathy (damaged nerves to the arms and legs that causes numbness, pain, weakness, and poor coordination)

If you are a smoker with diabetes, quitting smoking will benefit your health right away. People with diabetes who quit have better control of their blood sugar levels.

In Australia we have resources such as:

Quitline

Call Quitline today on 13 7848. Using a Quitline advisor can double your chance of quitting successfully. When you ring the Quitline, you can ask for a Quit pack to be sent free of charge and you can ask to speak to a trained advisor. You can also ask to speak to an Aboriginal Quitline advisor.

Quitline’s friendly advisors understand that quitting is a complex process and that most people will have a number of goes at quitting before they quit for good. Quitline advisors are trained to listen carefully to you to help meet your needs.

Research shows that the Quitline call-back service can significantly increase your chance of quitting. Around 40% of smokers who used Quitline’s call-back service successfully quit smoking. This figure is based on a survey conducted 6 months after callers received assistance from Quitline. Based on a recent evaluation of the Quitline, nearly all callers found the advisors really helpful, friendly and approachable.

Cancer Council of Australia

Reasons to Quit:

• Twelve hours after stopping, almost all nicotine is out of your system with most by-products gone within five days.
• After 24 hours, the level of carbon monoxide in your blood has dropped dramatically, meaning your body can take and use oxygen more efficiently.
• After two days, your senses of taste and smell start to return.
• After two months, blood flow to your hands and feet improves.
• After one year, your risk of heart disease rapidly drops.
• After 10 years, your risk of lung cancer is halved.

Find a reason for yourself, and your family, today – to stop smoking.

Kind Regards,

David, Diabetes Educator