Research
Adherence
Quitting smoking after a new diagnosis of type 2 diabetes reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality, although the risk remains higher than in those who never smoked.
If you smoke, quit. Even after a diabetes diagnosis, stopping smoking lowers your risk of heart attack and death compared to continuing. While your risk might not drop to the level of someone who never smoked, it is much better than staying a smoker. Combine this with exercise for the best results.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Quitters had a higher risk of MI, stroke, and all‑cause mortality than nonsmokers, but their risk level was much lower than that in continuous smokers.
Why this rating
Large observational study, adjusted for multiple confounders.
Source
Effects of exercise initiation and smoking cessation after new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus on risk of mortality and cardiovascular outcomes
Mee Kyoung Kim et al. · Scientific Reports · 2022
DOI 10.1038/s41598-022-14603-1
cohort · n=181591Cited 16×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Initiating moderate-to-vigorous exercise after a new diagnosis of type 2 diabetes significantly reduces the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and all-cause mortality compared to remaining sedentary.Good
- The combination of smoking cessation and exercise initiation after a new diabetes diagnosis yields the greatest reduction in cardiovascular disease risk (46% reduction) and all-cause mortality (22% reduction) compared to continuing both bad habits.Good
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
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