The effects of cigarette smoking on glycosylated hemoglobin in nondiabetic individuals.

Cigarette smoking has been causally linked to atherosclerotic heart disease. The mechanism by which cigarette smoking causes heart disease has not, however, been determined. Nicotine has been shown to lead to increases in plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine following smoking. Catecholamines have been shown to lead to increases in blood glucose. This paper demonstrates that cigarette smoking is associated with increases in average blood glucose as measured by glycosylated hemoglobin levels in smokers compared with nonsmokers. Fifteen nondiabetic smokers had an average glycosylated hemoglobin of 6.82% (SD = 1.06%), which is higher than the 5.63% (SD = .49%, t = 3.98, P less than .001) found for 23 nonsmokers. The average glycosylated hemoglobin level of the smokers is in the range found for patients with well-controlled diabetes. These data suggest that elevated blood glucose may contribute to atherogenesis in cigarette smokers.