THURSDAY, June 11, 2009  (HealthDay News) — The nicotine in cigarette smoke may promote insulin resistance and lead to a condition known as pre-diabetes, new research shows.

The finding, to be outlined Thursday at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., could explain why smokers are at higher risk for diabetes. The same team of researchers was able to partially reverse nicotine’s effect on insulin in mice by giving the rodents the nicotine-blunting drug mecamylamine.

Read the full article, Nicotine May Help Spure Prediabetes: Toxin ups cortisol levels, encourages insulin resistance, study finds

In the two well-controlled studies that included a lifestyle intervention arm, substantial efforts were necessary to achieve only modest changes in weight and exercise, but those changes were sufficient to achieve an important reduction in the incidence of diabetes. In the Finnish study, weight loss averaged 9.2 lb at 1 year, 7.7 lb after 2 years, and 4.6 lb after 5 years (31,53); the exercise component of the intervention called for “moderate exercise” of 30 min/day. In the DPP (33), the lifestyle group lost ∼12 lb at 2 years and 9 lb at 3 years (mean weight loss for the study duration was about 12 lb or 6% of initial body weight). In both of these studies, most of the participants were obese (BMI >30 kg/m2).

Read the full report: Prevention or Delay of Type 2 Diabetes