Breathing second-hand smoke can increase the chances of young people developing glucose intolerance - the precursor of diabetes - a study finds today.
The research, published in the British Medical Journal, followed nearly 5,000 black and white men and women aged 18-30 for 15 years across the US.
Thomas Houston, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and colleagues found that 22% of smokers developed glucose intolerance, 17% of passive smokers, and 12% of people who were not exposed to any smoke.
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