Kick Butt
Today is the Great American Smokeout. There's no doubt that smoking is a hard habit to break. Nicotine is arguably the most widely available, yet highly addictive and medically harmful substance in America today. An estimated 45 million adult Americans are smokers. But each year, 438,000 of these people die prematurely as a result of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.
Research tells us the health stakes are higher for people with diabetes. If you smoke, you're automatically doubling your risk of developing diabetic neuropathy. You're also increasing your risk of heart problems and kidney damage. And smoking has also been linked to poorer blood sugar control and increased insulin resistance.
Despite all this, roughly 25% of people living with diabetes continue to smoke. It starts with one day of saying no to tobacco. Why not make it today?
Comments
- At 07:27 PM on Sun, Nov 19, 2006 Lynda wrote:
I am the mother of a child who diagnosed with type I diabetes at age 14 months. He had diabetic retinopoly at age 17 and had both eyes operated on. He garaduated from high school with 28 hrs of AP credit and was on the wrestling team in high school and the basketball team at church. He graduated from college with four degrees in June 2004. January 16 2005 he was diagnosed with end stage renal failure. He had dialysis 3 times a week while working a job as a loan officer. He got married in April 2005 while on dialysis. His doctor put him on the national transplant list in June 2005 and July 31, 2005. He recieved both a kidney and a pancreas. It was 1 year and 4 months ago that he recived the gift of life. He went back to work 1 month after the trans plant. I is still a loan officer moving up the ladder to manager. He can eat anything and do almost anything.
I am the mother of a child who diagnosed with type I diabetes at age 14 months. He had diabetic retinopoly at age 17 and had both eyes operated on. He garaduated from high school with 28 hrs of AP credit and was on the wrestling team in high school and the basketball team at church. He graduated from college with four degrees in June 2004. January 16 2005 he was diagnosed with end stage renal failure. He had dialysis 3 times a week while working a job as a loan officer. He got married in April 2005 while on dialysis. His doctor put him on the national transplant list in June 2005 and July 31, 2005. He recieved both a kidney and a pancreas at age 24. It was 1 year and 4 months ago that he recived the gift of life. He went back to work 1 month after the trans plant. I is still a loan officer moving up the ladder to manager. He can eat anything and do almost anything.