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Lifestyle Factors and Risk for New-Onset Diabetes 

Conclusion: Lifestyle factors, when considered in combination, are associated with a substantial reduction in risk for diabetes.

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Healthy Living Can Cut Chances of Developing Diabetes 

Living a healthy lifestyle can cut your risk of diabetes by as much as 80 percent, researchers from the U.S. National Institutes of Health report.

It has been clear that diet, exercise, smoking and drinking have an impact on whether one is likely to develop type 2 diabetes, but how each individual factor affects the risk had been unclear.

"The lifestyle factors we looked at were physical activity, healthy diet, body weight, alcohol consumption and smoking," said lead researcher Jarad Reis, a researcher from the U.S. Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

"For each one of those, there was a significant reduction in risk for developing diabetes," he said. "Having a normal weight by itself reduced the risk of developing diabetes by 60 to 70 percent."

For example, eating a healthy diet reduced the risk by about 15 percent, while not smoking lowered the risk by about 20 percent, he said.

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Many lifestyle factors linked to diabetes risk  

A new study reports that weight, diet, exercise, smoking and alcohol intake may each independently influence a person's risk of getting diabetes.

Researchers found that even when people had a family history of diabetes or were overweight, they were less likely to get the chronic disease if they were healthy in other ways.

And each additional lifestyle improvement lowered their risk.

"There are implications certainly for individuals to take one step at a time toward a healthy lifestyle," said Jared Reis, one of the study's authors from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. . . .

One limitation to the study, the researchers reported in Annals of Internal Medicine, is that participants may have changed their lifestyle during the decade following the first survey -- and those changes wouldn't be reflected in the findings.

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Relationships of Cotinine and Self-Reported Cigarette Smoking With Hemoglobin A1c in the U.S. 

OBJECTIVE Whether nicotine leads to a persistent increase in blood glucose levels is not clear. Our objective was to assess the relationship between cotinine, a nicotine metabolite, and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), an index of recent glycemia. . . .

CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that cotinine is associated with increased HbA1c in a representative sample of the U.S. population without diabetes.

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• Smoking may increase risk for diabetes 

Results from a US study suggest that having increased cotinine levels, as a result of smoking, may increase glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels and therefore raise diabetes risk in nondiabetic individuals.

Carole Clair and colleagues from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, analyzed cross-sectional data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected between 1999 and 2008 on cotinine and HbA1c levels.

In total, 17,287 people without diabetes were included in the study cohort. Participants were divided into three cotinine categories of less than 0.05 ng/ml (n=7350), 0.05-2.99 ng/ml (n=4946), and 3.00 ng/ml or more (n=4991). Approximately half of the cohort were self-reported current (n=4073) or former (n=4377) smokers and half were never smokers (n=8837).

The team found that mean HbA1c was 0.05% higher in smokers than in former or never smokers. Similarly, mean HbA1c levels were 5.35% and 5.34%, respectively, in the highest and middle cotinine groups compared with 5.29% in the lowest.

Multivariate analysis showed that smokers and people in the highest cotinine category had significant 5% and 7% relative increases in HbA1c, respectively, compared with nonsmokers and those in the lowest cotinine category.

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Smoking, Diabetes, Obesity May Shrink Your Brain 

As if there weren't already enough good reasons to avoid smoking and keep your weight, blood sugar levels and blood pressure all under control, a new study suggests these risk factors in middle age may cause your brain to shrink, leading to mental declines up to a decade later.

Evaluating data from 1,352 participants whose average age was 54 in the Framingham Offspring Study -- which began in 1971 -- researchers from the University of California, Davis found that smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and being overweight were each linked to potentially dangerous vascular changes in the brain.

"We can't cure disease or cure aging, but the idea of a healthy body, healthy mind is very real," said study author Dr. Charles DeCarli, director of UC Davis' Alzheimer's Disease Center. "People should stop smoking, control their blood pressure, avoid diabetes and lose weight. It seems like a no-brainer."

The study is published Aug. 2 in the journal Neurology.

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• High blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and obesity in middle age may shrink brain, damage thinking 

A new study suggests smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes and being overweight in middle age may cause brain shrinkage and lead to cognitive problems up to a decade later. The study is published in the August 2, 2011, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"These factors appeared to cause the brain to lose volume, to develop lesions secondary to presumed vascular injury, and also appeared to affect its ability to plan and make decisions as quickly as 10 years later. A different pattern of association was observed for each of the factors," said study author Charles DeCarli, MD, with the University of California at Davis in Sacramento and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. "Our findings provide evidence that identifying these risk factors early in people of middle age could be useful in screening people for at-risk dementia and encouraging people to make changes to their lifestyle before it's too late."

The study involved 1,352 people without dementia from the Framingham Offspring Study with an average age of 54.

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• Quitting smoking significantly reduces microalbuminuria in Type 2 diabetics 

Study findings suggest that quitting smoking significantly reduces symptoms of microalbuminuria within 1 year in patients with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes.

The research also showed that smoking cessation was associated with noticeable improvements in metabolic health and blood pressure in these individuals.

Christina Voulgari (Athens University Medical School, Greece) and colleagues recruited 193 smokers with newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria, aged an average of 56.4 years, to assess the impact of 1 year of smoking abstinence on various health parameters including blood pressure, microalbuminuric status, and glycemic control. . . .

Although the reduction in microalbuminuria was the most significant effect of smoking cessation, smaller but still significant improvements occurred including better glycemic control, reduced blood pressure, and a reduction in dyslipidemia and insulin resistance in those who stopped smoking compared with those who continued.

Similarly, the prevalences of peripheral vascular disease and neuropathy were significantly reduced only in those men and women who stopped smoking.

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Smoking linked to serious complications with diabetes  

The serious complications than can occur in smokers with diabetes may be caused by nicotine, research suggests.

A study has found a link between the addiction-causing chemical and continuous raised blood sugar levels experienced by people with diabetes.

Scientists have warned that the danger means people with diabetes should �make every effort� to give up smoking.

People with diabetes trying to quit the habit who are using nicotine-replacement therapy over long periods could also face complications.

In the UK, just under three million people are diagnosed with diabetes, but almost a million more could have the condition without being aware of it.

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New warning for diabetic smokers 

Nicotine may be responsible for serious complications in smokers with diabetes, a study has found.

The addiction-causing chemical is strongly linked to persistently raised blood sugar levels among diabetics, according to new evidence.

Scientists warning of the danger said anyone with diabetes should "make every effort" to quit smoking.

There may also be implications for diabetics attempting to give up the habit who use nicotine-replacement therapy for extended periods.

Almost three million people in the UK are diagnosed with diabetes, and close to a million more may have the condition without knowing it.

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• Nicotine Raises Blood Sugar Levels in Lab 

nicotine in cigarettes may be even more deadly for people who have diabetes.

In lab experiments, researchers discovered that nicotine raised blood sugar levels, and the more nicotine that was present, the higher the blood sugar levels were. Higher blood sugar levels are linked to an increased risk of complications from diabetes, such as eye and kidney disease.

"Smoking is really harmful for diabetics. It's even more harmful to them than to a non-diabetic," said study author Xiao-Chuan Liu, an associate professor in the department of chemistry at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. "This study should encourage diabetics to quit smoking completely, and to realize that it's the nicotine that's raising [blood sugar levels]."

For that reason, it's also important to limit the use of nicotine replacement products, such as nicotine patches, Liu said.

"If you're using them for a short period of time to quit smoking, that's OK. But, if you still have this addiction to nicotine and are using this product long-term, it will do harm. Don't use electronic cigarettes or nicotine gum for a long time. You need to stop nicotine intake," he advised.

Liu is scheduled to present his findings Sunday at an American Chemical Society meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

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Association Between Passive and Active Smoking and Incident Type 2 Diabetes in Women 

CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that exposure to passive smoke and active smoking are positively and independently associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes.

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Association Between Passive and Active Smoking and Incident Type 2 Diabetes in Women 

CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that exposure to passive smoke and active smoking are positively and independently associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes.

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Secondhand smoke linked to diabetes  

Cigarette smoke is tied to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, both for smokers and the people around them, a new study shows.

And the more secondhand smoke people are exposed to, the greater their risk of type 2 diabetes, according to the paper in Diabetes Care.

The potential risks of diabetes from being exposed to secondhand smoke weren't previously known, said Dr. David Nathan, who heads the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and is a professor at Harvard Medical School.

"This just reinforces the lesson from a public health point of view that we've been stressing for decades," which is to limit exposure to cigarette smoke, Nathan, who was not involved in the study, told Reuters Health.

For the new research, Dr. John P. Forman at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and colleagues looked at the responses of more than 100,000 women to questionnaires they had answered in 1982. The women -- all nurses participating in a national study that would last several decades -- provided information about how much time they spent around cigarette smoke.

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• Second-hand smoke linked to diabetes 

Cigarette smoke is tied to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, both for smokers and the people around them, a new study shows.

And the more secondhand smoke people are exposed to, the greater their risk of type 2 diabetes, according to the paper in Diabetes Care.

The potential risks of diabetes from being exposed to secondhand smoke weren't previously known, said Dr. David Nathan, who heads the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and is a professor at Harvard Medical School.

"This just reinforces the lesson from a public health point of view that we've been stressing for decades," which is to limit exposure to cigarette smoke, Nathan, who was not involved in the study, told Reuters Health.

For the new research, Dr. John P. Forman at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and colleagues looked at the responses of more than 100,000 women to questionnaires they had answered in 1982. The women -- all nurses participating in a national study that would last several decades -- provided information about how much time they spent around cigarette smoke.

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