Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Smoking and Diabetes


Platinum
Is smoking a cause of type 2 diabetes?
The US Surgeon General Boris D Lushniak has released a report about the impact of smoking on the body. The report says that active smoking is now casually associated with age-related maular degeneration, diabetes, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, adverse health outcomes in cancer patients/survivors, TB, erectile dysfunction, orofacial clefts in infants, ecotopic pregrancy, rheumatoid arthritis etc.
The colossal report names smoking as a cause of cancer and you can read more here (p569) but here's the quick version from the executive summary:
Diabetes: Previous Surgeon General’s reports have found that smoking complicates the treatment of diabetes and that smokers who have been diagnosed with diabetes are at a higher risk for kidney disease, blindness, and circulatory complications leading to amputations. This report concludes that smoking is a cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus, and that the risk of developing diabetes is 30-40% higher for active smokers than nonsmokers (Chapter 10). Furthermore, the risk of developing diabetes increases as the number of cigarettes smoked grows.” 
This report paints smoking as all pervasive and can cause a lot of damage. What do you think of the claim that smoking causes diabetes??

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