14 DAY TRIAL // In a new development, it appears that quitting smoking can have adverse effects on people's health, a new study shows. Experts say that, while smoking is known to be tied to an increased risk of diabetes, quitting the habit may actually increase the risk of people developing the condition in the short term. Giving up smoking was found to have a direct statistical correlation with an increased number of Type II diabetes in former smokers, scientists announced recently, quoted by Reuters.
The research focused on the first six years after a person gave up smoking. Investigators discovered a 70-percent increase in these people's chances of developing type II diabetes, when compared with individuals who never smoked a single cigarette in their lives. One of the main reasons for this correlation, the team explained, was the fact that most people who stopped smoking tended to gain a lot of weight and to become obese. This condition is known to be one of the main promoters of both types of diabetes and also of diseases pertaining to the heart and the circulatory system in general.
The team was also quick to point out that die-hard smokers should not use the new study as an excuse to keep smoking. It again underlined the negative health effects of cigarettes, including cancer, lung diseases, strokes and so on. “The message is: Don't even start to smoke. If you smoke, give it up. That's the right thing to do. But people have to also watch their weight,” Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine expert Hsin-Chieh Yeh, the leader of the new investigation, explains.
The research takes into account the medical history of more than 11,000 people, who did not have diabetes between 1987 and 1989. For more than 17 years, the research team regularly collected data on these people, including pieces of information such as the diabetes status, glucose levels, weight, and others. The team notes that the risk of developing type II diabetes is the highest in the first three years, then exhibits a small drop after six years, until it falls back within limits ten years after that person quit smoking. Details of the investigation appear in the latest issue of the respected journal Annals of Internal Medicine.