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Published on: January 4, 2018
Cigarette smoking, oral moist snuff use and glucose intolerance
P G Persson1, S Carlsson, L Svanström
1Division of Epidemiology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm County Council, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Objective:
To investigate the association between cigarette smoking and use of oral moist snuff and impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes.
Design:
We performed a population-based cross-sectional study of glucose intolerance and tobacco use in Stockholm during 1992-94. The sample consisted of 3128 men, aged 35-56 years, of whom 52% had a family history of diabetes. In an oral glucose tolerance test, we detected 55 men with type 2 diabetes and 172 with impaired glucose tolerance. Information on cigarette smoking and oral moist snuff use was collected by a questionnaire.
Results:
The odds ratio of type 2 diabetes was increased for smokers of 25+ cigarettes day-1 (odds ratio = 2.6, 95% confidence interval = 1.1-5.9) as well as for moist snuff dippers of 3+ boxes week-1 (odds ratio = 2.7, 95% confidence interval = 1.3-5.5). The odds ratio of relatively high (highest tertile) fasting insulin levels in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance associated with cigarette smoking of 25+ cigarettes day-1 was 1.5 (95% confidence interval = 0.7-3.6). The corresponding estimate of a relatively low (lowest tertile) 2 h insulin response was 2.5 (95% confidence interval = 0.9-7.1).
Conclusions:
These results indicate that heavy users of cigarettes or moist snuff have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The results could suggest that tobacco use is associated with a low insulin response.
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