SMOKING AND DIABETES
According to WHO and the International Diabetes Federation, the number of people with diabetes mellitus (DM) aged 20 to 79 years is growing and is the main cause of 1.5 million deaths, indirectly contributing to additional mortality each year.
The risk of developing type 2 diabetes is closely related to diet and lifestyle, so identifying risk factors and changing lifestyle is the most effective measure in reducing morbidity and mortality.
One of the dangerous bad habits that has a detrimental effect on health in general, and especially in diabetes mellitus, is smoking. Smoking in diabetes mellitus increases the risk of vascular complications by 4.5 times.
Inhalation of nicotine leads first to an increase in vascular tone, and then to a state of chronic spasm, which impairs tissue nutrition and contributes to a more rapid progression of diabetic angiopathy, which in turn worsens blood flow in the lower extremities and may lead to the need for their amputation.
Medical research proves that smoking in diabetes mellitus causes a serious threat to all organs and systems:
- cause diabetes in people predisposed to it, plays the role of a trigger
- weaken the body, affect the heart, blood vessels, metabolism, impair the permeability of cell membranes to insulin
- A diabetic smoker has a ten times higher chance of dying from stroke and myocardial infarction, if there is at least one additional risk factor (high blood pressure, obesity, high blood cholesterol, age over 40, male gender)
- actually doubles the risk of complications and death - mortality from cardiovascular diseases in the presence of diabetes is three times higher than in non-smokers
Smoking negatively affects the course of diabetes because:
- the effectiveness of drugs decreases
- increased release of stress hormones that counteract insulin
- nicotine blocks the response to insulin therapy in type 1 disease and its hormone in type 2
- oxygen starvation of tissues already suffering from a lack of energy increases
Remember! Smoking is a modifiable risk factor!
Quitting smoking reduces the risk of developing both diabetes and its complications.