7 Reasons Diabetes and Smoking Don’t Mix

Everyone knows that smoking is bad for your health. Little good ever comes of this habit and diabetics who smoke are at greater risk for the many complications this dangerous disease causes. The following 7 reasons should give anyone with diabetes pause before they smoke another cigarette.

1. Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy is a disease which affects the peripheral nerves through out the body. This is caused by poor blood circulation which keeps nerve endings from getting the nutrients’ they need. Smoking is known to affect blood flow in a negative manner. Add this to the fact that diabetes also can negatively affect blood flow and it’s easy to see how this condition can be further exacerbated by smoking.

2. Limited mobility and arthritis in your joints can be more than doubled if you smoke and have diabetes. In fact half of all people with diabetes also suffer from arthritis. Studies have also shown that smoking can contribute to arthritis and has been linked to the development rheumatoid arthritis. Put these two together and you can see joint problems can be an issue.

3. Diabetic Nephropathy is a type of kidney disease that affects 20 to 40 percent of all diabetics. It is the most common cause of kidney failure that requires dialysis or a kidney transplant. Recent studies have shown that smoking by itself can also lead to this disorder. To lessen the chances of this happening it is best to stop smoking.

4. Increased risk for hypertension or high blood pressure. Even when properly managed, diabetes can have a profoundly adverse affect on the cardiovascular system causing high blood pressure. We all know that smoking also leads to hypertension. The two combined can lead to an extremely high risk of deadly heart disease.

5. Which brings us to the next point; the diabetic who does smoke has three times the chance of dying from some form of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke.

6. Smoking increases blood sugar levels, which is the major no-no when it comes to managing diabetes. Controlling blood sugar levels is the most important aspect of controlling the affects of this disease. Not doing so can lead to a multitude of complications including those listed above.

7. For the diabetic also fighting high cholesterol smoking only increases this risk for cardiovascular disease and heart attack.

The problem with smoking is not only its link to lung cancer but also to its affects to the cardiovascular system. When you consider that diabetes itself can have serious affects on the circulatory system it’s easy to see how mixing smoking into the equation can have disastrous results.