A recent study shines a light on the long-term risks faced by people who have both type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cancer.
According to the research, these individuals are more likely to die in the following seven years if they are smokers or lead inactive lives.
This new information is crucial, especially now that cancer has overtaken heart disease as the main cause of death among people with diabetes.
The Changing Face of Diabetes-related Deaths
People with type 2 diabetes are living longer now than in the past, thanks to better treatments and better prevention of heart disease.
Dr. Tinne Laurberg, who led the research, points out that as fewer people with diabetes are dying from heart disease, more are succumbing to cancer. Understanding why this is happening is key to helping people live longer, healthier lives.
The Study: Who’s at Risk and Why
The research team tracked the health of 655,344 people with type 2 diabetes in Sweden over a period of seven years.
None of these people had cancer at the beginning of the study, but 32,366 developed one of the four most common cancers—breast, lung, prostate, or colorectal—during the study period.
By the end of the study, 179,627 people had died. Those who had both diabetes and cancer were almost three times more likely to die than those with diabetes alone.
Lifestyle Matters: Smoking and Inactivity Double the Risk
When the researchers looked at lifestyle choices, they found two main risk factors for death among people with both diabetes and cancer: smoking and low physical activity.
Smokers were more than twice as likely to die during the study, and people who were inactive were 1.6 times more likely to die.
Even people with diabetes but without cancer faced a higher risk of dying early if they smoked or were inactive. This shows that these lifestyle choices have a long-lasting impact.
What This Means: Time to Quit Smoking and Get Moving
According to Dr. Laurberg, the results suggest that people’s lifestyle choices contribute not only to developing diabetes and cancer but also to dying earlier once they have these diseases.
The study makes it clear that tackling smoking and promoting physical activity are crucial steps in helping people with diabetes, whether or not they also have cancer.
Clinicians and public health workers should keep encouraging people to quit smoking and be active, especially after a diabetes diagnosis.
These two factors could make a significant difference in whether someone survives cancer and lives a longer, healthier life.
In a nutshell, if you have type 2 diabetes, quitting smoking and staying active could be lifesavers, particularly if you also develop cancer.
These lifestyle changes can make a big difference in your survival chances, and it’s never too late to start.
If you care about cancer risk, please read studies that exercise may stop cancer in its tracks, and vitamin D can cut cancer death risk.
For more information about cancer, please read studies about eating fish linked to higher risk of skin cancer, and Vitamin B3 could help prevent skin cancers.
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