Is diabetes caused by smoking?
No, there is no evidence that smoking causes diabetes, but smoking can aggravate health conditions associated with diabetes. In fact, tobacco use, from cigarettes to cigars, increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and even makes managing the condition much harder if a person develops the disease.
What recent research indicated a connection between seniors who smoke and diabetes?
In a study conducted in Germany, the data showed that seniors who smoked were almost three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who never smoked. (In this study, seniors were people age 60 or over.) If a senior also had prediabetes and was a smoker, the number rose to eight times more likely to end up with type 2 diabetes.
Recent studies indicate that smokers have a greatly increased risk of diabetes than nonsmokers.
What are some health problems associated with smoking that are exacerbated by diabetes, and vice versa?
Although diabetes is not caused by smoking, the disease can exacerbate some conditions associated with smoking.
The Canadian Diabetes Association says recent studies indicate that smoking is an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes, with those who smoke 25 or more cigarettes a day having double the diabetes risk than nonsmokers.
Diabetes can cause damage to a person’s heart and larger blood vessels, and smoking compounds the risk of this damage.
Smoking is also thought to contribute to hardening of the arteries, which, when combined with high blood glucose levels from diabetes, can accelerate the development of diabetic complications.
Thus, it is estimated that a person with diabetes who also smokes has about three times the risk of a heart attack compared to someone who does not smoke.
There are other problems with diabetes and smoking.
Smokers who have diabetes can also have higher risks for serious health complications, such as kidney disease, retinopathy (eye disease that can cause blindness), and peripheral neuropathy (damaged nerves in the arms and legs that cause weakness, numbness, pain, and sometimes poor coordination).
In addition, smoking by a person with diabetes increases the chances of stroke, faster nerve damage, and poor blood flow, especially in the extremities (hands and feet).
If there is poor blood flow in the legs and feet because of smoking and diabetes, it can lead to infections and ulcers that are often difficult to treat.
And in terms of blood vessels and nerve damage in the extremities, there is added incentive to quit smoking if a person has diabetes: It is estimated that some 90 percent of people with diabetes who have a foot amputated are smokers.
Is it true that diabetes can be harder to control after a person stops smoking?
Not necessarily.
Some researchers believe that after a smoker quits smoking, he or she gains weight and finds diabetes control more difficult, especially if the person doesn’t exercise and eat a healthy diet.
But other research suggests that smoking, while it does lower the body mass index (BMI; for more about BMI, see chapter “Diabetes and Obesity”), may actually redistribute a person’s body weight into a pattern that can lead to obesity, which in turn can lead to diabetes.
Thus, most health care professionals advise patients that smoking does increase the risk of diabetes (and often other diseases), making cessation of smoking that much more advantageous to a person’s present and future health.
How much of an increased risk for type 2 diabetes is there for smokers?
According to a 2015 study published in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, compared with people who have never smoked, people who smoke have a 37 percent increased risk for type 2 diabetes.
For people who formerly smoked, the number decreased to a 14 percent increased risk for type 2 diabetes.
The researchers even broke down the amount a person smokes and diabetes risk: Compared with a person who never smoked, a light smoker had a 21 percent increased risk of type 2 diabetes, a moderate smoker a 34 percent increased risk, and heavy smokers a 57 percent increased risk.
The research also indicated that a smoker who has either type 1 or type 2 diabetes increased the relative risk of total mortality and cardiovascular events (such as heart attacks and strokes) by about 50 percent.
Can secondhand smoke affect a person with diabetes?
Yes, according to some studies, if a person with diabetes is exposed to secondhand smoke (in most cases, if a nonsmoker lives with a smoker), it does have an effect on the disease.
In 2015, a mega-analysis of 88 studies (which included a total of around 6 million people) found that people exposed to secondhand smoke have a significantly increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
According to the data, compared with people who never smoked, inhaling secondhand smoke raised the risk of type 2 diabetes by 22 percent.
Thus, the researchers pointed out that past studies of passive smoking’s effect on health showed an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer (mostly lung), and also the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
If a person with diabetes quits smoking, how does it affect his or her overall health?
There is good news if a person with diabetes (or even without the disease) quits smoking. According to Harvard Medical School, some of the health benefits occur right away, especially a better stabilization of a person’s glucose levels. In addition, researchers have found that a person with diabetes who quits smoking will notice that insulin resistance begins to decrease as soon as eight weeks after that last cigarette.
DIABETES AND CANCER
What is a common definition of cancer?
Cancer is caused by the unrestrained growth of cells in the body.
Cells that do not “follow the rules” of the normal cell life cycle may eventually become cancerous.
This means that the cells reproduce more often than normal, creating cellular overgrowth commonly referred to as tumors.
Usually this happens over an extended period of time and begins with changes at the molecular level.
There are more than 100 distinct types of cancer, each of which behaves in a specific fashion and responds to treatments differently.
What types of cancer are associated with diabetes?
Diabetes is often associated with several types of cancer, including a higher risk of developing pancreatic, hepatic (liver), endometrial (ovaries), breast, lung, bladder, and colorectal cancers.
These cancers are all independently associated with insulin resistance and also hyperinsulinemia.
The reason for this connection between so many cancers and diabetes is still being explored, but there are a few possible explanations.
For example, according to Harvard Medical School, cancer and diabetes share several risk factors, including obesity, aging, and a sedentary lifestyle, along with a diet high in fat and refined carbohydrates.
Another connection is that the changes in the body associated with diabetes, including insulin resistance, high blood glucose levels, and inflammation, may also help contribute to the risk of developing cancers.
This is why most health care professionals suggest that a person with diabetes stick to a healthful lifestyle and schedule routine cancer screenings.
Are there any treatments for diabetes that may lower the risk of cancer?
Yes, but some also may raise the risk.
Metformin is often cited as reducing the risk of many types of cancer, and a class of oral medications called thiazolidinediones (for example, pioglitazone) have been noted to lower the risk of some cancers, while increasing the risk of others (often cited is bladder cancer and even other medical problems such as an increased risk of heart failure).
In addition, GLP-1 therapies (or glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists, which are often mentioned as a treatment for type 2 diabetes) have often been connected to an increased risk of pancreatic and thyroid cancers.
But as usual, many of these connections have not been proven by extensive research.
Having a sedentary lifestyle puts you at greater risk of not only diabetes but also some types of cancer.
Does any type of cancer cause diabetes?
No, no research has found that any type of cancer causes diabetes, although, as seen above, diabetes is often associated with a higher risk of several cancers. This lack of association makes sense, as both diseases develop for different reasons.
DIABETES AND ALLERGIES
What is an allergic reaction?
An allergic reaction is a response to a substance that is often harmless to most other people. Allergens, the antigens (chemical substances, mostly in the form of proteins) that can cause an allergic reaction, are found in many foods and medications, along with responses to various plants, animals, chemicals, dust, or molds. The more common allergic reactions are allergic rhinitis (hay fever), allergic conjunctivitis (an eye reaction), asthma, atopic dermatitis (skin reactions), urticaria (hives), and what are called severe systemic allergic reactions (such as anaphylaxis).
Do allergies cause diabetes?
No, there is no evidence that any allergies cause diabetes (although there have been some rare reports of allergies to insulin in people with type 2 diabetes). But that does not mean people with diabetes don’t have allergies (such as allergies to certain foods and medications).
How can certain medications for allergies affect a person with type 2 diabetes?
Several over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription allergy medications can affect a person with type 2 diabetes.
For example, certain medicines, especially OTC decongestants taken orally, can constrict blood vessels in the body and cause such effects as a rise in blood glucose.
During allergy season, taking cough drops that are not sugar-free can often cause a rise in glucose levels.
Some prescription nasal sprays for a stuffy nose may contain steroids, which can stimulate the liver to produce more glucose, raising blood glucose levels.
What is anaphylactic shock?
A naphylactic shock, or anaphylaxis, is a severe allergic reaction to certain allergens, usually within minutes after exposure. For example, many people who are severely allergic to the venom in bee stings can experience anaphylactic shock. Anaphylactic reactions usually involve one or several organs in the body, such as the skin (often as a rash), respiratory system (usually as breathing difficulties), and gastrointestinal tract (most often as vomiting and/or diarrhea).
Many people who may suffer severe reactions to bee stings or snake bites carry what is called an Epipen™ with them, a needle-and-syringe medical device that provides a premeasured, single dose of epinephrine. When delivered soon after exposure to the allergen, this self-delivered injection usually helps to stave off a potentially life-threatening reaction.
What drug causes the most allergic reactions?
P enicillin is a common cause of drug allergy. One research study found that approximately 7 percent of normal volunteers react to penicillin-allergy skin tests (IgE antibodies). Anaphylactic reactions to penicillin occur in 32 of every 100,000 exposed patients.
What allergies can a person develop?
There are a large number of allergens that can affect humans and cause allergies. The most common allergens are dust and mites. People can also be allergic to various foods, pollen, chemicals in cosmetics, medications, fungal spores, insect venom, various microorganisms, even a person’s own body cells can develop abnormally, causing an allergic reaction. If a person is sensitive to one of these allergens, allergies can develop. In people who are not sensitive, there will be no response.