For the first time, it has been shown that exposure to second-hand smoke increases glucose intolerance.

There are many health hazards linked to second-hand smoke (passive smoking). Now, it appears, we might need to add diabetes to this list. A team at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Alabama, has been studying the link between smoking and glucose intolerance, a precursor condition to diabetes.

They studied a group of 4,572 men and women in four US cities. Over 15 years of follow up, 22 per cent of smokers developed glucose intolerance, compared to 12 per cent of non-smokers not exposed to second-hand smoke. But 17 per cent of those non-smokers who were exposed to second-hand smoke developed glucose intolerance. This is the first study to suggest such a link.

Source

BMJ Online First 6th April 2006