Active and passive smokers have a significantly higher type 2 diabetes risk than people who have never smoked, according to a new study.
Researchers from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, and National University of Singapore estimated that 11.7% of cases of type 2 diabetes in men and 2.4% in women (about 27.8 million cases in total worldwide) may be attributable to active smoking. They also found that risk decreases as time elapses after smokers quit.
Cigarette smoking should be considered a key modifiable risk factor for diabetes. Public health efforts to reduce smoking will have a substantial impact on the global burden of type 2 diabetes, said co-author Frank Hu.
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The study found that the increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes was 21%, 34% and 57% for light, moderate, and heavy smokers, respectively, compared with never smokers.
First author An Pan said that despite the global efforts to combat the tobacco epidemic, cigarette use remains the leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, adding that this study underscores the importance of implementing and enforcing the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The smoke-free policies can provide protections for non-smokers and may lead to increased successful cessation in smokers.
The authors also called for more research into the mechanisms underlying the short-term increased risk of diabetes in recent quitters in order to help develop interventions to improve smoking cessation and prevent diabetes.
The study appears in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
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