Smoking and Type II Diabetes Risk

Smoking cessation may increase type 2 diabetes risk.

The Los Angeles Times (1/5, Maugh) reported, "Former smokers have a greater risk of developing diabetes than smokers or nonsmokers," according to a study published in the Jan. 5 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. Johns Hopkins University researchers examined data on "10,892 middle-aged adults who were enrolled in a study to determine their risk of atherosclerosis" for "an average of about nine years," during which time "1,254 developed type 2 diabetes."
The team found that the 380 "people who quit smoking were as much as 80 percent more likely to develop diabetes than those who never" took "up the habit," Bloomberg News (1/5, Bennett) reports. The authors theorized that "the increased risk could be related to the weight smokers sometimes add when they kick the habit," a risk that was "highest in the first three years after quitting."