Type 2 Diabetes - Smoking Affects More Than Your Blood Sugar and Others

Everyone, especially smokers, have heard how dangerous smoking can be for their health. According to the American Heart Association, more than 440,000 people die each year due to smoking-related diseases. More than 135,000 additional deaths are said to be connected to the effect of cigarettes on the cardiovascular system.

But what about when people with Type 2 diabetes smoke as well? The cardiovascular burden of Type 2 diabetes, especially in combination with smoking, is not really effectively communicated to people with diabetes, or even to their doctors. As well, there seems to be little evidence this risk factor is talked about consistently.

Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center stated: "There is no safe amount of smoking. Smokers continue to increase their risk of heart attack the longer they smoke. People who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day have more than twice the risk of heart attack than non-smokers.

Within 24 hours of quitting smoking, the National Institute of Drug Abuse have stated blood pressure and the chances of heart attack actually decrease. In a man of 35 years gives up smoking, this could mean an increased life expectancy of around 5 years.

Do you know the more you smoke, the more likely it is you will develop atherosclerosis... this results in arteries that become blocked with, therefore, a reduced blood flow to your heart.

Statistics show almost one out of every four diabetics smoke. And diabetics are up to four times as likely to experience a stroke or heart attack as compared to non-diabetics. But what you probably don't know is diabetic smokers are three times as likely to have a heart attack as a non-smoking diabetic.

In simple truth it means a Type 2 diabetics who smokes is twelve, that's right, twelve times as likely to have a heart attack as a non-diabetic who does not smoke.

Why is smoking so much more dangerous for diabetics? Because of how it impacts a body whose health has already been compromised.

For starters, when you smoke:

• it causes your blood sugar to rise,
• cholesterol levels and other fat levels rise,
• it causes high blood pressure,
• it increases your chances of developing blood clots,
• your blood vessels become restricted, often leading to leg and foot infections, and foot ulcers in people with diabetes,
• nerve damage develops or worsens,
• vitamin C levels are reduced in your body,
• you are at a higher risk of coronary and peripheral artery diseases, heart attack and strokes if you are a women who uses contraceptives compared to non-diabetic women.

All of the above definitely raises your chances of dying before your time.

Now you can see quitting smoking is about more than just breathing better. It means your body is receiving more blood and oxygen while enjoying lower blood pressure. Blood vessels as well as nerves, do not have to become damaged and your body lowers its cholesterol levels and the risk of stroke.

Type 2 diabetes is no longer a condition you must just live with. It need not slowly and inevitably get worse. Now is the time to take control of the disease... and take back your life.