Smoking and Type 2 Diabetes: Mechanisms and Cessation Benefits

Cigarette smoking, while not widely recognized as an established risk factor for various chronic diseases, have also been accumulating findings suggesting its epidemiological association with diabetes mellitus, particularly type 2 diabetes. However, smoking was not widely recognized as a modifiable risk factor in the development of diabetes prevention and screening strategies. This paper, through a method of literature review, has highlighted studies that focused on the physiological effects of smoking on increased type 2 diabetes risk, the association between smoking behavior and diabetes risk in large-populational studies, and the temporal effect of smoking cessation on diabetes risk. This study finds that smoking significantly increases the risk of type 2 diabetes through mechanisms such as insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and metabolic disruptions, while smoking cessation, despite initial metabolic challenges, reduces diabetes risk over time, with former smokers' risk aligning with that of never-smokers approximately 12 years after quitting. Key future directions are suggested for strengthening public health strategies on smoking cessation, lifestyle interventions, and personalized metabolic management to reduce the global burden of diabetes.