[Tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption and physical activity among patients with Type 2 diabetes]

The present article is focused on tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and necessary physical activity, and how they contribute to everyday life of diabetic patients. The article is based on a study comprising 106 such patients, treated in two leading centres of diabetological care in the City of Poznan. Fifty eight male and 48 female patients were examined. Eighty nine per cent of the studied group were convinced of the negative effect of tobacco smoking on human health, 9% - had no opinion in this matter while 2% - expressed rather astonishing, in the study's context, view on the supposedly beneficial influence of smoking on health. Forty three patients in the studied group never smoked, 47 - gave up the habit while 16 - still smoked. Analysis of the respondents' knowledge on the glycaemic effect of alcohol proved interesting. Only 54 persons knew that alcohol consumption considerably diminished level of glucose in the blood, occasionally leading to severe hypoglycaemia whereas 27 had no opinion on the matter, and 16 thought that alcohol actually increased the level of glucose in the blood. Three respondents did not think alcohol influenced a diabetic's body in any way. Thirty four per cent declared abstinence. Physical activity, in the view of 90% of the subjects, beneficially influenced the health of a diabetic patient, 5% - did not form an opinion about it, and another 5% suggested an unquestionably negative effect of physical effort on health. Daily physical activity, continued for at least 30 minutes, declared 53% of the examined group, 3 times a week - 13%, and 5 times a week- 8%. The remaining subjects exercised even less frequently or at all.