Smokers have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, especially if they are genetically predisposed to the condition, a new study says.
People who ever smoked at all have an elevated risk of all four subtypes of type 2 diabetes, and heavy smokers are at even greater risk, researchers reported Saturday at a meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Vienna.
"It is clear that smoking increases the risk of type 2 diabetes whatever the subtype -- that is, regardless of whether the diabetes is characterized by insulin resistance, lack of insulin, obesity or old age," lead researcher Emmy Keysendal, a doctoral student at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, said in a news release.
For the study, researchers analyzed data from 3,325 people with type 2 diabetes and 3,897 healthy folks participating in diabetes studies in Norway and Sweden.
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