Diabetes is a chronic disease that has become a common diagnosis in recent decades. According to the World Health Organization (WHO)good eating habits, as well as frequent exercise routines and the limitation of some other actions such as the consumption of cigarettes or alcoholic beverages could help prevent and combat this situation.
However, one of the questions that arises is how smoking can cause diabetes, if this disease is related to excess sugar and ineffective insulin in the body. While smoking would be linked to deficiencies in the respiratory system, as well as the development of different types of cancer in the body.
Well, the specialized portal Diabetic Sweets stated that cigarette consumption affects the development of the disease in the long term. “The nicotine contained in tobacco increases insulin resistance. In people with DM2 (diabetes), nicotine reduces insulin sensitivity, contributing to the development of metabolic syndrome.” as he stressed citing a study.
And he added that quitting smoking, in a certain way, can also develop diabetes in a long time if the person does not take other complementary actions to take care of their health. “However, quitting smoking reduces our metabolic activity, and therefore metabolic expenditure. This implies that if we eat the same calories when we quit smoking, we may gain weight… given that diabetes and obesity are closely related, what people with diabetes should do is put themselves in the hands of nutrition professionals as soon as possible”he pointed out.
Diabetes and its consequences
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the United States indicated that diabetes develops in people who have a high level of accumulated sugars in the blood, Although this substance is vital for the normal functioning of the body, a regulation of the percentages is necessary so that it does not damage other organs.
“Insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas, helps glucose from food enter cells to be used for energy.. Sometimes the body doesn’t make enough or none of the insulin or doesn’t use it properly, and the glucose stays in the blood and doesn’t get into the cells.”, he explained about how and why the disease develops.
Some of the symptoms of diabetes are increased appetite, fatigue, blurred vision, ulcers that do not heal, weight loss for no apparent reason, increased thirst and therefore the urge to urinate, in addition to numbness or tingling in the hands or feet, according to the US portal.
On the other hand, the WHO stressed that some of the consequences of the disease are: an increased risk of having a heart attack or stroke; neuropathies (damage to nerve tissue) that ultimately require limb amputation; diabetic retinopathy, which is a major cause of blindness; including kidney failure.