Here are a few interesting tit-bits about tobacco use and metabolism  to add
to the list. I discovered some during my look at cyanide in plants and how
the body detoxifies itself from this potentially deadly poison.

Tobacco contains a VERY high level of cyanide. Workers who handle and
process the leaf have been fatally poisoned just through skin contact with
the leaf.

I have read that people who smoke or use tobacco have been found to be
consistently deficient in Vitamin B12. This vitamin is the body's main line
of defense against the chronic low-level state of cyaniditis. It gets
depleted by having to de-toxify the cyanide that keeps coming in all the
time. After all there are small amounts of cyanide in most of plants we eat.
Fine, unless you smoke. Diabetics are particularly likely to have
sub-optimal levels of Vit B12 anyway, especially if they use that otherwise
helpful med, metformin. So that's a double whammy. Even supps have a hard
time keeping up the supply.

Cyanide binds strongly to the iron in the body, which then lowers the uptake
and presence of oxygen in the blood and cells. That's why it can kill so
fast. No oxygen! Smoking contains carbon monoxide, which also replaces
oxygen in the blood. Breathe in enough, and that will cause death too. Same
reason. Cigarette smoke lays down "soot" in the lungs, as well as being
carcinogenic. So less oxygen is being absorbed by those wonderful
"ventilators".  A triple whammy!

Now the body does fight bravely to deal with these assaults. It tries to
"wash" the offending soot out of the airways with mucous, hence the classic
"smoker's" cough. It tries to detoxify the cyanide, hence low levels of B12
that are needed elsewhere.  It does it's best to kill cancerous cells, but
of course can simply fail to handle such a constant intake of carcinogens,
and cancer can get the better of all it's efforts. Finally, the lungs
endeavour to correct the lack of sufficient oxygen for normal metabolism,
and stretch so as to increase the amount of air taken in with each breath.
Long term though, they gradually lose their elasticity, like worn out
elastic in waist bands, and can no longer function effectively. I'm not
surprised that smoking raises the risk of heart attacks. Every living cell
in our bodies need oxygen, those hard working muscles in the heart in
particular. But if none of the above get you, the emphesema will.

Just one more tip to close off. I'm not cogniscent of why, but smoking
definitely has been shown to raise insulin resistance. If you decide to
quit, keep an eye on your bg levels (especially if you are a T2). The
insulin resistance can improve so rapidly, you may find yourself suffering
from a hypo!

Good grief, you may even be able to drop all your oral medications, enjoy
exercise, and find bg management a breeze.
It's that much of an influence.

Annette
" Perfection is attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but
when there is no longer anything to take away."
(A. de Saint-Exupery)