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Insulin resistance key to heart disease and smoke risk
12 Jun 2009
Further insight into the impact of smoking on insulin resistance could help to explain why cigarette use increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Research presented at the Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington DC, US, shows nicotine is implicated in higher insulin resistance, which is also known as prediabetes.
As prediabetes and diabetes are both known risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the finding could explain why, even though it can cause weight loss, smoking is associated with a high cardiovascular death rate.
According to Theodore Friedman, chief of the endocrinology division at Charles Drew University and the study's lead author, the discovery could lead to improved cardiovascular treatments.
"Our results suggest that reducing tissue glucocorticoid levels or decreasing insulin resistance may reduce the heart disease seen in smokers," Dr Friedman commented.
"We anticipate that in the future there will be drugs to specifically block the effect of nicotine on glucocorticoids and insulin resistance."
Campaign group Action on Smoking and Health claims 22 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women in the UK smoke.
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