Significance

• According to the American Diabetes Foundation, diabetics are two to four times as likely to develop heart disease or stroke. Diabetics who smoke are 11 times as likely to die of heart disease.
  
  

Effects

• According to the American Diabetes Association, smoking makes blood sugar hard to keep under control because it lowers your body's ability to use insulin, which raises your blood sugar level.
  
  

Potential

• Diabetics who smoke can become seriously ill and develop circulation problems, and injury can lead to infections that can result in amputation.
  
  

Complications

• Smoking increases the chance of diabetes complications such as vascular disease, eye disease, kidney disease, stroke, cardiovascular disease, nerve damage and impotence.
  
  

Considerations

• Smoking lowers the amount of oxygen that reaches tissues and organs.