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

[Totto]

Makes no difference as the risk is always there.
.

So no difference if you HbA1c is 5.5 or 7 or 8 or higher? What is the evidence for the lack of difference?

 

[sally and james]

Our endocrinologist was quite clear on the subject: With an HbA1c consistently in the low 30s (i.e. low 5's), you do not have the risks commonly associated with diabetes. The ophthalmologist expressed similar views. A cured/ in remission / former diabetic (unless an organ is irreparably damaged and weakened) carries the same risk as a non-diabetic.
So, cheer up everyone. It is worth making the effort to get those numbers down.
Sally

 

[LucySW]

Makes no difference as the risk is always there.

If diabetics smoke, I presume you mean.

 

[izzzi]

So no difference if you HbA1c is 5.5 or 7 or 8 or higher? What is the evidence for the lack of difference?

My point is that it makes no difference in that smoking will damage your health no mater what your HbA1c may be.
Risk factors
The presence of CAD risk factors were identified based on laboratory analyses, patient history and/or medical records. Samples for laboratory analysis were collected at hospital admission and were analysed by the in-house routine diagnostic laboratory. Smoking status was defined as current smoker or non-smoker. The term non-smoker included patients who quit smoking >1 month before admission. Information on medical history of hypertension and diabetes was recorded at admission and extracted from earlier medical files, and the diagnosis and information were also verified at the time of discharge from the hospital. Hypertension was defined as a physician's diagnosis prior to hospital admittance. In general, these patients were treated with blood pressure-lowering medications. Patients with a previous diagnosis of diabetes were grouped for analysis as follows: (1) diet treated only, (2) oral medication only or (3) insulin treated. In parallel, to identify patients with an impaired glucose homoeostasis who had evidence of acute and long-term insufficient glucose control, a laboratory-defined classification based on glucose ≥7.5 mM together with glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) ≥5.5 was used. We had previously evaluated this classification by comparing with a prior diagnosis of DM and found that 89% of those treated by diet only, 95% of those treated by oral medication only and 100% of those treated with insulin were identified as having impaired glucose homoeostasis using this classification

 

[sally and james]

I suspect there has been a bit of confusion. There are two subjects being discussed here, smoking and diabetes. I think we all agree, including the OP, that smoking carries all sorts of quite unnecessary risks, irrespective of other issues, conditions and circumstances. Then there is diabetes, where my understanding is that someone with a high HbA1c is at much greater risk of all sorts of things than someone with a low or normal HbA1c.
Therefore it is sensible to not smoke and to try and get your sugars as low as sensibly possible.
Sally

 

[SamJB]

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

Sure, if they get their HbA1c down to 5.5 then they won't have the associated diabetic risk of heart attacks, but will still have the risk from smoking.

 

[Ilya83]

If you smoke you need more insuline for sure. Do you smoke? I'm trying to quit it Didn't know it's sooooo hard

 

[Profette]

Gangrene is one they don't warn you about! I'm a type one, diagnosed at age 10 but didn't start smoking till my 20s. I was 41 when I noticed an unexplained bruise on my big toe. Saw a GP who wasn't remotely bothered even though my feet were freezing. I badgered her enough that she referred me to a vascular specialist. The bruise got bigger. I got more worried, saw a different GP who was even lessbothered. I woke up one Saturday morning and knew something was wrong because my foot felt so strange. I saw the emergency GP who also happened to have type 1 diabetes and she said "I'm so sorry, there's no pulse, you need to go to A&E". A&E on a Saturday night? Yes, you guessed it, they weren't bothered! Luckily, my appointment at the vascular clinic was on the Wednesday. They were VERY bothered and admitted me straight away. I've been so lucky with my diabetes, and this was no exception. they saved my toe, my leg and my life. I'd developed peripheral vascular disease and it's one of those things that no-one had told me about. Incidentally, no-one mentioned "gangrene" till I moved house and changed GPs, and the new one was reading my notes and said "Oooooh, gangrene, how interesting!" At least I was entertaining...