Diabetes is a chronic disease that can be the cause of serious health conditions and greatly reduce people quality of life. Conventional cigarette smoke is a very high risk factor for diabetes: people who smoke have a 44% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than non-smokers. Moreover, patients with diabetes who smoke experience serious complications. Therefore, the first advice for these patients is to stop smoking. However, quitting smoking is often very difficult and the goal of complete cessation is not always achieved. For those unable to quit smoking on their own or through cessation pathways, using alternative tools can reduce the smoking harm up to 85%.
A fact confirmed by a group of diabetes experts who met in Catania from 30 to 31 March for an international meeting promoted by CoEHAR, at the University of Catania, as part of the Diasmoke project. Ten of the world’s leading experts in diabetes addressed the issue of smoking harm in this vulnerable population in its clinical, medical, behavioral and sociological implications, in order to provide independent consultation and oversight to the development of smoking cessation / harm reduction guidelines for smokers with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Among the convened group: Andre Kengne, Noel Somasundaram, Magda Walicka, Tabinda Dugal, Roberta Sammut, Agostino Di Ciaula, Davide Campagna, S. Abbas Raza, coordinated by Riccardo Polosa and moderated by Delon Human.
The experts will meet again in June in Warsaw to complete their work and present a white paper to the scientific community and medical associations.
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DIASMOKE 2.0 is an international, multicenter, open label randomized controlled study designed to determine whether type 2 diabetes cigarette smokers switching to alternative combustion-free products (i.e. electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products) experience measurable improvement in cardiovascular risk parameters as a consequence of avoiding exposure to cigarette smoke toxicants, over the course of 2 years. The project is supported by the Foundation for a Smoke Free World.
