Smoking Children with Diabetes Increase the Risk of Heart Disease

Tobacco use is spreading among children and adults with diabetes and unfortunately few health workers are recommending then to stop smoking, according to a research.
Children and adults who have diabetes are already at an increased risk for heart disease before they start smoking, but several studies have analyzed the correlation between smoking and heart disease risk factors in children with diabetes.

Sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Diabetes, researches analyzed smoking and heart disease risk factors of a group of 3,466 children and adults with diabetes aged 10 to 22 years.
They found out that 10% of children having first type diabetes and 16% of children with second type were currently using some tobacco product as: cigarettes, smokeless tobacco or cigars. Less than half of them stated that they had been advised by their health provider to stop smoking.

“We found that a significant proportion of young people with diabetes are current cigarette smokers, who greatly increase the risk for heart disease. Smoking is preventable, that is why adequate smoking prevention programs are needed in order to stop hear disease in young people with diabetes,” stated, Reynolds, PhD and research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research and Evaluation.

The study discovered that the prevalence of current tobacco use in young people with first type of diabetes constitutes 1.3 % of 10- to 14-year-olds, 14.9 % of 15- to 19-year-olds, and 27 % of those 20 years and older. Among young people with second type of diabetes, 4.4 % of 10- to 14-year-olds were currently smokers, 12.9 % of 15- to 19-year-olds were smokers, and 37.3 % in youth 20 years and older were smokers.
The researches also found incipient characters of heart disease among those individuals who smoke. Those young people who were past and current smokers had higher levels of such indices as: LDL and HDL (cholesterol levels) and more physical inactivity than those who do not smoke.

“Smoking is an absolutely preventable risk factor for cardiovascular and various other diseases. While this holds for all children, it is particularly true for children with diabetes,” stated study co-author Stephen R. Daniels, professor and chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Pediatrician at The Children’s Hospital in Denver.

The risk of hear disease is rather increased in adults who have diabetes in comparison to adults without diabetes, and smoking may greatly increase the risk. Approximately 90% of adult smokers began smoking before attain their majority. The American Diabetes Association underlines the importance of smoking prevention programs for those individuals.

Consuming Various Kinds of Fruits and Vegetables Lowers the Risk of Lung Cancer

Consuming various fruit and vegetables per day is the one of the best methods which many experts frequently advise for preventing cancer. A study of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) conducted by researches from 10 countries has proved that, in case of lung cancer, the most important thing is not only the quantity but also the variety of fruit consumed, which can lower the risk by 23%.

“The given study is analyzing deeply the relationship between dietary regime and lung cancer. Besides from the amount consumed, it is also relevant to consider the variety. A varied dietary regime lowers the risk of cancer, first of all in smokers” stated María José Sánchez Pérez, co-author of the study and director of the Granada Cancer Registry in Andalusia.

The results of this study have demonstrated that consuming more than eight sub-groups of vegetables lowers the risk by 23% if compared with eating less than four sub-groups. Also it was found out that the risk drops by 4% for each unit added to dietary regime from another sub-group.

An essential link was detected in smokers. For every two supplementary units of various kinds of fruits and vegetables in the dietary regime, the risk of lung cancer drops significantly by 3%. So in case smokers raise the variety of fruit or vegetables they consume they could have a reduced risk of developing this type of cancer.

(EPIC) includes 23 centres from 10 European countries as - Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It is working with a sample of 500,000 European subjects, only 41,000 of whom are from Spain.
“Lung cancer continues to be the most widespread type of cancer in the majority of developed countries all around the world. That is why, despite the gratifying results of this study that the most effective method of stopping it continues to be lowering the prevalence of smoking rate among the population,” Sánchez Pérez stated.
The effect according to the type of cancerous tissue.

A broad spectrum in fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with a reduced risk of developing epidermoid carcinoma of the lung, with a supplementary two units of fruit and vegetable eating bringing to a 9% lessening in risk. The given result is evident among smokers (where the risk drops by 12%).

More essential associations between fruit and vegetable eating and the risk of developing lung cancer were not detected for the different types of tissues affected.

Racial Discrepancies in Smoking-Related Morbidity

It was estimated that approximately 443,000 deaths in the United States happen each year because of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke. All these deaths cost the nation $97 billion on lost productivity and $96 billion in health-care costs. Only in Missouri smoking lead to 9,600 deaths during 2000-2004. In order to restrict the dangerous health consequences of smoking, states decided to introduce comprehensive tobacco cessation programs which would detect inequalities among population and target those incommensurable affected by secondhand smoke.

The given report also compares the national health burden of smoking among whites and Afro-Americans in Missouri by evaluating the number of smoking related deaths in these population groups within 2003-2007. The data show that the average annual smoking related morbidity level in the state constituted 18% higher for Afro-Americans than for whites. The relative difference in smoking related morbidity levels between Afro-Americans and whites was higher for men – 28% than women 11%. For Missouri, these findings are an important criterion for estimating the success of tobacco control programs in lowering the consequences of tobacco use.

During 2003-2007, smoking lead to 9,377 deaths - 8,400 among whites and 853 among Afro-Americans. For instance in Missouri were registered 18% (51,856) of deaths among persons aged 35. Smoking caused 32% of deaths from cancer, 15% circulatory deaths, and 46 % of all respiratory deaths in Missouri within this time. For both Afro-Americans and whites, the major cause of smoking related deaths was cancer.

However smoking related mortality for Afro-Americans constituted only 9% of the total number of deaths, the same rate for Afro-Americans in Missouri was 18% higher than for whites. Also was registered a significant discrepancy, 28% of death among black men and 11% among Afro-American women.

The smoking – related years of potential life lost (YPLL) level for Afro-Americans also constituted 18%, this is higher than for whites and differed most for men. Afro-American men had an YPLL rate 25% higher than white men, and the same was for women.

Differences in smoking-related morbidity exist all over the world and happen because of variations in population demographics and smoking. Also differences in tobacco cessation programs, policies and tobacco industry occur in this field. Racial and ethnic discrepancies in smoking-related mortality are also associated with social status, levels of cigarette smoking and not the least but the last the differences in genetic factors.

Essential racial discrepancies in smoking-related morbidity existed in Missouri during 2003—2007, with a number of 52 per 100,000 more Afro-American dying each year from smoking.