Incidence of microalbuminuria in tobacco chewers

It is well established that smoking increases the risk for cardiovascular disease. From the studies in diabetic subjects it has been shown that smoking induces microalbuminuria and accelerates the progression to end stage renal disease. Little is known whether smoking is also related to microalbuminuria and renal end organ damage in non diabetic subjects. The hypothesis which was put forward that tobacco chewing is related to microalbuminuria and renal functional changes in non diabetic subjects. We therefore performed a population based study in the Anand city of Gujarat in which we studied the relation between tobacco chewing and urinary albumin excretion. Tobacco chewers had a higher urinary albumin excretion (Albumin excretion 373±13.9 mg/day: P<0.01) than those who do not consume tobacco. In conclusion tobacco chewing is associated with albuminuria.