Tobacco and Type 2 Diabetes
Cigarettes are a major cause of type 2 diabetes, also known as adult-onset diabetes.Footnote 1Footnote 2
- Key facts about tobacco use and type 2 diabetes
- What is type 2 diabetes?
- How does tobacco use increase the risk of type 2 diabetes?
- How does quitting reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes?
- Health benefits of quitting tobacco use at any age
- Call for free help to quit
Key facts about tobacco use and type 2 diabetes
- Someone who smokes has a 30% to 40% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to someone who has never smoked.Footnote 1
- The risk of type 2 diabetes increases with the number of cigarettes smoked.Footnote 1
- In 2019-2020, 2.4 million Canadians (7.5% of the population) were living with diabetes.Footnote 3
- People with diabetes are 2-4 times more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than people without diabetes.Footnote 11
- More than one in ten premature deaths could be prevented in Canada if diabetes rates were reduced to zero.Footnote 5
View health-related messages for all tobacco product packaging.
What is type 2 diabetes?
Insulin, a hormone produced by the body, helps control the level of sugar in the blood. Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which the body does not make enough insulin or cannot properly use the insulin it makes (this is called insulin resistance). The result is high blood sugar levels.
Type 2 diabetes requires medication for most patients, as well as monitoring blood sugar levels, healthy eating, regular exercise, and weight management.Footnote 6
Unmanaged diabetes puts the body at risk for heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage leading to amputation and other serious health conditions.Footnote 6
In 2008-2009, Canadians with diabetes were hospitalized up to 4 times more frequently with heart failure, up to 6 times more frequently with chronic kidney disease, and up to 20 times more frequently for a lower limb amputation compared to Canadians without diabetes.Footnote 5
How does tobacco use increase the risk of type 2 diabetes?
Tobacco smoke contains toxic chemicals that can cause inflammation in the body and impair the regular functioning of blood vessels. This can make it harder for the body to use insulin properly, increasing the risk of diabetes.Footnote 1Footnote 2
Smoking can also increase the risk of central obesity, which is the collection of excess fat around the stomach. Central obesity is a major risk factor for insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.Footnote 1
Nicotine, the drug in tobacco that causes addiction, can impair the body's ability to release insulin, contributing to insulin resistance.Footnote 1
If someone who smokes already has diabetes, smoking makes it harder to manage their condition and increases their risk of heart disease, kidney failure, nerve damage, and other serious health complications.Footnote 2
How does quitting reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes?
Quitting smoking helps decrease the risk of diabetes.Footnote 1
If someone who smokes has type 2 diabetes, it is not too late to quit. Quitting smoking can make it easier to manage diabetes and reduce their risk of health complications.Footnote 2 After quitting, the body is better able to control its blood sugar levels.Footnote 2Footnote 8
Health benefits of quitting tobacco use at any age
Quitting tobacco use reduces the risk of premature death, improves health, and enhances quality of life.Footnote 9 Quitting at any age is beneficial to one's health.Footnote 9 Even people who have smoked or used tobacco heavily for many years benefit from it.Footnote 9Footnote 10 Quitting is the most important thing someone who smokes can do to improve their health.
Read more about the benefits of quitting smoking.
Call for free help to quit
Call the toll-free pan-Canadian quit line at 1-866-366-3667. Quit line counselling, alone or in combination with cessation medications, increases success in quitting.Footnote 8
Footnotes
- Footnote 1
-
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: 50 Years of Progress. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2014.
- Footnote 2
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2010.
- Footnote 3
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Statistics Canada. Table 13-10-0113-01 – Health Characteristics, two-year period estimates. 2022-04-19. DOI:https://doi.org/10.25318/1310011301-eng
- Footnote 4
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Public Health Agency of Canada. Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CCDSS), Data Tool 2000–2017, 2019 Edition. Ottawa (ON): Public Health Agency of Canada; 2021. Table: Diabetes mellitus (types combined), excluding gestational diabetes, age-standardized all-cause mortality rate and rate ratio, per 100,000, both sexes, age 1 year and older, Canada
- Footnote 5
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Public Health Agency of Canada. Diabetes in Canada: Facts and figures from a public health perspective. 2011. Accessed on May 2, 2022. https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/phac-aspc/migration/phac-aspc/cd-mc/publications/diabetes-diabete/facts-figures-faits-chiffres-2011/pdf/facts-figures-faits-chiffres-eng.pdf
- Footnote 6
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Public Health Agency of Canada. Diabetes: Reducing the Risk of Complications. Ottawa (ON): Public Health Agency of Canada; 2012. Accessed on July 11, 2022. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/chronic-diseases/diabetes/reducing-risk-complications.html
- Footnote 7
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Yeh HC, Duncan BB, Schmidt MI, Wang NY, Brancati FL. Smoking, smoking cessation, and risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus: a cohort study. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2010;152(1):10–7. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-152-1-201001050-00005.
- Footnote 8
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Eliasson B, Attvall S, Taskinen M, Smith U. Smoking cessation improves insulin sensitivity in healthy middle-aged men. Eur J Clin Invest. 1997;27(5):450-456. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2362.1997.1330680.x.
- Footnote 9
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2020.
- Footnote 10
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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2004.
- Footnote 11
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Sridharan Raghavan, Jason L. Vassy, Yuk-Lam Ho, Rebecca J. Song, David R. Gagnon, Kelly Cho, Peter W. F. Wilson and Lawrence S. Phillips. Diabetes Mellitus-Related All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality in a National Cohort of Adults. Journal of the American Heart Association. Vol. 8, No. 4 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.118.011295
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