Smoking 'may increase risk of diabetes'

Published on 26/09/2005 12:05

SMOKERS may be increasing their risk of developing diabetes, researchers said today.

Smoking has long been linked with a greater risk of cancer, heart disease and various other serious illnesses.

Now a study in the US has found it may also be linked to Type 2 diabetes, which itself can cause serious health complications.

The researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine examined the relationship between smoking and diabetes among the participants in a major piece of research called the Insulin Resistance Atherosclerosis Study (IRAS).

The team compared the incidence of diabetes after five years among smokers and those who had never smoked.

They found that 25 per cent of the participants who smoked and did not have diabetes when the study began, had developed the condition within five years.

This compared to just 14 per cent of the people who had never smoked.