Relation of Tobacco Smoking to Arteriosclerosis Obliterans in Diabetes Mellitus

Our purpose in this study was to determine the relative incidence of occlusive arterial disease in diabetic patients who smoked tobacco as compared with similar patients who abstained from its use. Any factor, like tobacco, which may affect the circulation is of especial importance to the diabetic. As we have recently reemphasized,¹the incidence of peripheral vascular disease in diabetes mellitus is high. On this account the diabetic patient is often incapacitated by intermittent claudication, ulcers, gangrene and amputations. As Joslin²says, "An elucidation of the relative importance of the various factors contributing to its [occlusive vascular disease] causation, together with improvements in our methods of preventing and of treating these complications when they arise, represent perhaps the most urgent need in diabetic treatment today." SCOPE OF THE WORK The clinical material available for our study comprised 301 male diabetic patients chosen at random in the diabetic clinic.