Smoking harms everyone and every body organ. In diabetes, smoking can affect diabetes management and multiply the risk of diabetes complications.
Smoking spoils your diabetes management
Numerous researchers show that people with diabetes who smoke have elevated blood-glucose levels; smoking makes their blood-glucose level management difficult to control.
Additionally putting them at higher risk towards developing diabetes complications such as heart disease and stroke. Those who additionally have high blood pressure are even riskier for diabetes complications.
If you are a smoker, please stop smoking it is not only good for you; it is also beneficial for this environment and those around you.
How can smoking increase your diabetes complications?
The high blood glucose level in blood can increase the chances of building arterial fatty-deposits; this, in turn, reduces healthy circulation. Long term of diabetes and poorly managed diabetes can already damage the heart. Smoking alone can increase the chances of increased fatty deposits in the artery walls and vastly affects the blood circulation by hardening the arteries. Thus, smoking can multiply your risk towards heart attack, stroke, and other diabetes complications.
Why should diabetes stop smoking?
Smoking is a health hazard; smoking increases your risk of diabetes complications. Smoking is terrible for everyone; however, for people with diabetes; smoking can be even more damaging and dangerous. Studies confirmed that smoking is an independent diabetes risk factor, and among diabetes, it can increase your risk of diabetes complications.
Diabetes complications include heart disease, stroke, kidney problems, sexual dysfunction, and circulation problems. Smoking is already proving to increase the risk of further complicating these things.
Smoking makes your diabetes management difficult; blood-glucose levels become unstable because of smoking cause’s glucose levels to peak. People with diabetes who smoke have a risk to develop high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which eventually increases the risk of having a heart attack and stroke.
If you are a great non-smoker, you are not only helping you and those around you, be proud of it. Make a plan never to start in the future. If you are a smoker, it is not too late immediately you have to challenge yourself to quit smoking.
Ways to quit smoking cigarettes
You need to quit smoking; there is no better time than today. Of course, quit smoking is the hardest things you ever do.
There is a physical and psychological addiction your body has with the nicotine. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms are headaches, anxiety, irritability, and intense cravings for sugar and salt. The physical nicotine withdrawal symptoms usually subside in three days, and psychological cravings can take up to six months to subside.
There are many products available in the market that supports to quit smoking by reducing the withdrawal symptoms as well as improvements to make you remain smoke-free. Some of these options are:
- Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is one of the most popular smoking-cessation treatments. It is available as gum, patches, lozenges and nasal sprays on the market. Using this product consistently can have more than doubles the chances of successfully quitting.
- Medications that help quit smoking are Zyban (Wellbutrin) and Chantix; it works by reducing the urge to smoke. Zyban (Wellbutrin) is a mild anti-depressant whose side effects have found to help people quit smoking. Chantix is a new drug specifically developed to help people quit smoking by blocking nicotine from reaching the receptors in your brain.
Benefits of quit smoking
Some of the benefits you will begin to notice immediately once start to quit smoking:
- In about 20 minutes - your heart rate and blood pressure drop to normal.
- In about 12 hours - the carbon monoxide level in your blood normalizes.
- In two weeks to nine months – there is an improvement in circulation, lung functionality, coughing, and shortness of breath.
- In about one year - the excess risk of coronary heart disease is half of that of smokers.
- In about five years - the Stroke risk is reducing to that of a nonsmoker.
- In about ten years - the lung cancer risk is nearly half that of smokers. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas also decreased.
- In about 15 years - the risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker.