Cigs increase diabetes kidney risk

[Posted: Sat 04/11/2006]

People with type 2 diabetes who smoke are more than twice as likely to have impaired kidney function, compared to non-smokers, the results of a new study indicate.

According to researchers, the relationship between cigarette smoking and diabetes-related kidney problems has mainly been documented in patients with type 1 diabetes. They set out to explore the relationship between smoking and impaired kidney function in male patients with type 2.

They looked at 158 current smokers and 158 people who had never smoked. All had type 2 diabetes. The Italian researchers used a measure of kidney function known as GFR (glomerular filtration rate). This measures how quickly the blood vessels in the kidneys are able to filter waste products out of the blood.

Those with a low GFR were considered to have impaired kidney function.

The study found that patients with type 2 diabetes were much more likely to be affected by a low GFR if they were current smokers. In fact, smokers were 2.2 times more likely than non-smokers to have a low GFR.

"In a large population of male patients with type 2 diabetes, the risk of low GFR is markedly enhanced by smoking", the researchers concluded.

The results highlight the importance of helping people with diabetes to quit smoking, they added.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Diabetes Care.