Smoking and Diabetes: An Awful Combination

How many times have you heard that smoking can kill you? A thousand times? Closer to 10,000? Join the pack. A few decades of nearly nonstop messages about the dangers of smoking have made it thoroughly clear to most everyone in the United States of the health dangers of smoking. Smoking rates are clearly falling as a result, to well less than half of our peak levels of the 1960s.

And yet, there are 1,196 cigarettes smoked in America per adult per year, according to a major study done in 2007 of smoking habits in 120 countries. If you don’t smoke, there are others doing a lot of it for you. Roughly one in five U.S. adults smoke, consuming well over 200 billion cigarettes a year. And teen smoking rates remain troubling high: In recent surveys, between 20 and 23 percent of high school students reported having had a cigarette in the last month.

With diabetes rates on a rapid rise in America, it’s crucial to know that smoking and diabetes are a truly awful combination. If you smoke and have diabetes, you are three times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than someone who has diabetes but doesn’t smoke, according to the American Diabetes Association. And smoking can actually contribute to getting the disease. Even if you smoke less than a pack a day, your risk of developing type 2 diabetes is three times that of a non-smoker.

If you have diabetes, your chances of developing the common complications—retinopathy (eye disease), heart disease, stroke, vascular disease, kidney disease, nerve damage and foot problems—are already pretty high. Smoking exacerbates all these problems, which means that if you smoke AND you have diabetes, you’re pretty much guaranteeing that you’ll develop a problem with at least one of these unpleasant and life-threatening complications.

And that’s ON TOP OF the damage that it does to your lungs and your overall health. Smoking lowers the amount of oxygen that gets to your organs, so it literally hurts every single organ in your body. 

If you smoke, it’s time to make a plan to quit today. It’s hard work, so be prepared and approach it as you would any difficult challenge. Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Set a quit date, and tell your friends, co-workers and family about it. It’s harder to slip up when you have a large support network cheering you on.
• Write down your reasons for quitting. Put the list where you’ll see it every day, like on your refrigerator, desk, or nightstand.
• Throw away your cigarettes, matches, lighters, and ashtrays. Make it as hard as possible for you to break down and light up.
• Next, choose your quitting strategies. There are many: You can go cold turkey; quit gradually by cutting back over several weeks; use nicotine patches or gum; ask your doctor for prescription medicine; follow the plan in a book; or use alternative methods like counseling, acupuncture or hypnosis. All have proponents and success stories. The trick is to find one that works for your unique personality and situation, and then stick with it.

The moment you quit smoking is the moment you start to heal the damage it has caused your body. Just by making a commitment to quit, you’re on your way to better health and a better life.