14 DAY TRIAL // Smoking is a well known cause of cancer. It also makes people more vulnerable to strokes and heart attacks, seeing as it takes its toll on the cardiovascular system.
Now, a new study in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology argues that smoking also increases an individual's risk to develop type 2 diabetes.
The study, authored by an international team of researchers, estimates that about 11.7% of cases of type 2 diabetes in men and 2.4% in women are the result of smoking.
This adds up to about 27.8 million cases of type 2 diabetes on a global scale that might not have happened had it not been for people's habit to light up.
“Cigarette smoking should be considered as a key modifiable risk factor for diabetes,” researcher Frank Hu said in a statement, as cited by EurekAlert.
“Public health efforts to reduce smoking will have a substantial impact on the global burden of type 2 diabetes,” the specialist went on to explain.
Scientist Frank Hu and fellow researchers estimate that active smoking increases the risk to develop type 2 diabetes by an average 37%. Passive smoking and former smoking, on the other hand, by 22% and 14%, respectively.
What's more, the scientists say heavy smokers are the ones most at risk to be diagnosed with this condition. Compared to people who have never smoked, they have a 57% higher risk to develop type 2 diabetes.