Smokers should be screened for type 2 diabetes, Harvard researchers say

Smokers should be screened for type 2 diabetes and encouraged to quit smoking to prevent it, two Boston researchers recommend based on a new review of studies linking smoking and diabetes.

Already the leading cause of preventable death around the world, smoking has now been tied to a 44 percent higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, Swiss researchers report in a review of 25 studies of 1.2 million people, published in tomorrow’s Journal of the American Medical Association.

Two Harvard researchers, writing in an editorial that also appears in the journal, call on physicians to test smokers for diabetes and encourage them to quit. Current US Preventive Services Task Force guidelines suggest screening adults with high blood pressure and high cholesterol while the American Diabetes Association recommends testing adults 45 and older every three years.

“Given the increased incidence of type 2 diabetes associated with smoking, it is likely important and prudent for clinicians also to screen for and carefully monitor glucose levels among current and former smokers,” write Eric L. Ding and Dr. Frank B. Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. “Major population prevention of type 2 diabetes is achievable by avoidance of smoking and modification of lifestyle factors through a combination of healthy weight control, regular physical activity, moderate alcohol intake, and proper diet.”