Smoking cessation undoubtedly reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases including mortality even if there is significant potential for weight-gain, as depicted in a recent article attributed to researchers at Harvard University, which was published in The New Engalnd Journal of Medicine. In the study, the researchers followed more than 170,000 cases including both male and females, at an average of a twenty year span, monitoring the connections between smoking cessation, weight-gain, Type 2 diabetes, and mortality.

Based on the research, the risk of Type 2 diabetes was temporarily higher among those individuals who quit smoking than when compared among the smokers: the temporary growth was proportionate with the level of weight-gain, and the risk did not increase among individuals whose weight did not undergo significant change following cessation. However, the overall data has shown weight-gain developed following smoking cessation, yet has not aggravated the benefits regarding the decreased rate of mortality caused by cardiovascular diseases and lengthening life expectancy. It is worth bearing in mind in consideration of those individuals who desire to quit smoking that extreme gain-weight can be prevented by healthy menu options and increased physical activity. The medical benefits can be maximized even moreso by reducing the short term risk of diabetes and mitigating mortality risk.

Source

“Smoking Cessation, Weight Change, Type 2 Diabetes and Mortality,” Yang Hu, Geng Zong, Gang Liu, Molin Wang, Bernard Rosner, An Pan, Walter C. Willett, JoAnn E. Manson, Frank B. Hu, Qi Sun, N Engl J Med 2018; 379:623-632 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1803626