What affect does smoking have on diabetes? Just a general question

Smoking trebles the risk for heart disease and stroke when you are diabetic. Also considerably higher risk for neuropathy and kidney disease. Among others. I quit last October after smoking for 37 years. I always knew I'd stop when I got diabetes so I did.

Totto said:

Smoking trebles the risk for heart disease and stroke when you are diabetic. Also considerably higher risk for neuropathy and kidney disease. Among others. I quit last October after smoking for 37 years. I always knew I'd stop when I got diabetes so I did.

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Well done you !
Funny, I was going to ask how you got on with stopping, as I know how much you enjoyed it when you did .Seriously, bl@@dy well done !

Signy

Oh and @georgeley63 , what Totto said !

Signy

Heathenlass said:

Well done you !
Funny, I was going to ask how you got on with stopping, as I know how much you enjoyed it when you did .Seriously, bl@@dy well done !

Signy

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Thank you Heathenlass! I do miss them but generally manage just fine anyway.

mate, whatever it takes, give up smoking and don't replace it with ecigs

@georgeley63 , I note from your profile that you are 17 and, presumably Type 1. You have already drawn a short straw in life, having diabetes. Smoking is not just drawing a short straw, it's going out and asking for bad luck. Never mind what effect one has on the other, both are independently capable of destroying your quality of life and your life expectancy. Don't even think about smoking!
Sally

georgeley63 said:

?

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How smoking affects your body

Every cigarette you smoke is harmful

Smoking is the biggest cause of preventable deaths in England, accounting for more than 80,000 deaths each year. One in two smokers will die from a smoking-related disease.

If you could see the damage, you'd stop.



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Circulation
When you smoke, the toxins from cigarette smoke enter your blood. The toxins in your blood then:

• Make your blood thicker, and increase chances of clot formation
• Increase your blood pressure and heart rate, making your heart work harder than normal
• Narrow your arteries, reducing the amount of oxygen rich blood circulating to your organs.

Together, these changes to your body when you smoke increase the chance of your arteries narrowing and clots forming, which can cause a heart attack or stroke.

Heart
Smoking damages your heart and your blood circulation, increasing the risk of conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, peripheral vascular disease (damaged blood vessels) and cerebrovascular disease (damaged arteries that supply blood to your brain).

Carbon monoxide from the smoke and nicotine both put a strain on the heart by making it work faster. They also increase your risk of blood clots. Other chemicals in cigarette smoke damage the lining of your coronary arteries, leading to furring of the arteries.

In fact, smoking doubles your risk of having a heart attack, and if you smoke you have twice the risk of dying from coronary heart disease than lifetime non-smokers.

The good news is that after only one year of not smoking, your risk is reduced by half. After stopping for 15 years, your risk is similar to that of someone who has never smoked.

Stomach
Smokers have an increased chance of getting stomach cancer or ulcers. Smoking can weaken the muscle that controls the lower end of your gullet (oesophagus) and allow acid from the stomach to travel in the wrong direction back up your gullet, a process known as reflux.

Smoking is a significant risk factor for developing kidney cancer, and the more you smoke the greater the risk. For example, research has shown that if you regularly smoke 10 cigarettes a day, you are one and a half times more likely to develop kidney cancer compared with a non-smoker. This is increased to twice as likely if you smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day.

Skin
Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen that gets to your skin. This means that if you smoke, your skin ages more quickly and looks grey and dull. The toxins in your body also cause cellulite.

Smoking prematurely ages your skin by between 10 and 20 years, and makes it three times more likely you'll get facial wrinkling, particularly around the eyes and mouth. Smoking even gives you a sallow, yellow-grey complexion and hollow cheeks, which can cause you to look gaunt.

The good news is that once you stop smoking, you will prevent further deterioration to your skin caused by smoking.

Brain
If you smoke, you are more likely to have a stroke than someone who doesn't smoke.

In fact, smoking increases your risk of having a stroke by at least 50%, which can cause brain damage and death. And, by smoking, you double your risk of dying from a stroke.

One way that smoking can increase your risk of a stroke is by increasing your chances of developing a brain aneurysm. This is a bulge in a blood vessel caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall. This can rupture or burst which will lead to an extremely serious condition known as a subarachnoid haemorrhage, which is a type of stroke, and can cause extensive brain damage and death.

The good news is that within two years of stopping smoking, your risk of stroke is reduced to half that of a non-smoker and within five years it will be the same as a non-smoker.

Lungs
Your lungs can be very badly affected by smoking. Coughs, colds, wheezing and asthma are just the start. Smoking can cause fatal diseases such as pneumonia, emphysema and lung cancer. Smoking causes 84% of deaths from lung cancer and 83% of deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease, including bronchitis.

The good news is that once you stop smoking, your health improves and your body will begin to recover.

Find out more here

Mouth and throat
Smoking causes unattractive problems such as bad breath and stained teeth, and can also cause gum disease and damage your sense of taste.

The most serious damage smoking causes in your mouth and throat is an increased risk of cancer in your lips, tongue, throat, voice box and gullet (oesophagus). More than 93% of oropharangeal cancers (cancer in part of the throat) are caused by smoking.

The good news is that when you stop using tobacco, even after many years of use, you can greatly reduce your risk of developing head and neck cancer. Once you've been smokefree for 20 years, your risk of head and neck cancer is reduced to that of a non-smoker.

Reproduction and fertility
Smoking can cause male impotence, as it damages the blood vessels that supply blood to the penis. It can also damage sperm, reduce sperm count and cause testicular cancer. Up to 120,000 men from the UK in their 20s and 30s are impotent as a direct result of smoking, and men who smoke have a lower sperm count than those who are non-smokers.

For women, smoking can reduce fertility. One study found that smokers were over three times more likely than non-smokers to have taken more than one year to conceive. The study estimated that the fertility of smoking women was 72% that of non-smokers.

Smoking also increases your risk of cervical cancer. People who smoke are less able to get rid of the HPV infection from the body, which can develop into cancer.

Smoking while you are pregnant can lead to miscarriage, premature birth, stillbirth and illness, and it increases the risk of cot death by at least 25%.

If you are pregnant, you can find lots more information on the specialist free support available from the NHS to help you stop smoking here.

Bones
Smoking can cause your bones to become weak and brittle. Women need to be especially careful as they are more likely to suffer from brittle bones (osteoporosis) than non-smokers.


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Hi, I smoked for many, many years and now cigarette free for 5 years , I wish I had done it sooner
Best advice in the world, don't start, just say no

Best wishes RRB

georgeley63 said:

How long were you smoking for whilst you had diabetes if you don't mind me asking?

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As I am T2 it developed gradually over a few years so I'm not really sure. Three years? Four? I quit eight months after diagnosis.

I'd been a smoker for 35 years when I was diagnosed. I looked up on interweb about the risks and it scared the life out of me! I stopped immediately, with the help of patches from the doctor, and have never smoked since. Still dream about ti though.

rowan said:

I'd been a smoker for 35 years when I was diagnosed. I looked up on interweb about the risks and it scared the life out of me! I stopped immediately, with the help of patches from the doctor, and have never smoked since. Still dream about ti though.

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I'm lucky I don't dream about it at all, first week was sheer hell though, and my daughter helped me so much with wonderful encouragement, I had to do it

It's bad because diabetics are almost guaranteed to die of heart disease. I work on the the National Diabetes Audit that's looks at the rate of complications amongst diabetics. We found that 1 in 10 diabetics had a heart disease event (e.g. Heart attack) in the last two years. The rate is even higher for Type 1s.

Smoking, as we all know, raises your heart disease risk factor. Combine the two and the risks are huge.

georgeley63 said:

Wouldn't ever smoke!

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Good, cigarettes really are bad news, especially for people who already have diabetes.

My Mum was diabetic, T2 like me, and she died from a heart attack at 72, and had already had one years before and several small strokes. She also had glaucoma and was losing her sight.

SamJB said:

It's bad because diabetics are almost guaranteed to die of heart disease. I work on the the National Diabetes Audit that's looks at the rate of complications amongst diabetics. We found that 1 in 10 diabetics had a heart disease event (e.g. Heart attack) in the last two years. The rate is even higher for Type 1s.

Smoking, as we all know, raises your heart disease risk factor. Combine the two and the risks are huge.

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But if they get their HbA1cs down to 5.5 ... ?

LucySW said:

But if they get their HbA1cs down to 5.5 ... ?

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Makes no difference as the risk is always there.
Also smokers should also think about the damage their giving to children and none smokers:
Secondhand smoke contains many of the same harmful chemicals that people inhale when they smoke. It can damage the hearts and blood vessels of people who don't smoke in the same way that active smoking harms people who do smoke. Secondhand smoke greatly increases adults' risk of heart attack and death.