DIABETES LINKED TO SMOKING AND DRINKING

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health report that people who smoke a pack of cigarettes per day are twice as likely to develop adult-onset diabetes than those who do not smoke, while former smokers have a 30 percent greater chance than non-smokers of developing the disease. Ironically, the same study shows that those who drink moderately are less likely than non-drinkers to get this form of diabetes: men who consumed two to four drinks per day reduced their odds of getting the disease by 40 percent. Researchers are not certain how to explain the relationship between drinking and this type of diabetes.