Even Light Smoking Dramatically Elevates Heart Disease, Death Risk, New Study Finds
Baltimore – Even infrequent or low-intensity cigarette smoking significantly boosts the risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death, according to research published November 18th in PLOS Medicine. the findings challenge the notion that occasional smoking poses minimal harm and reinforce the urgency of quitting at any age.
The large-scale analysis, encompassing data from over 323,826 adults across 22 prospective cohort studies, reveals a strong correlation between any level of smoking and increased risk of serious health problems. This research arrives amid ongoing public health efforts to reduce smoking rates and highlights the dangers even for those who believe they smoke “just a few” cigarettes daily.
Researchers led by Dr. Erfan Tasdighi of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in Baltimore examined the relationship between smoking habits – including the number of cigarettes smoked daily and the duration as quitting – and various cardiovascular outcomes. Participants were followed for a median of 14.4 to 19.9 years.
The study demonstrated that individuals smoking as few as two to five cigarettes per day experienced substantially elevated cardiovascular risks. Specifically, they showed a 26% increased risk of atrial fibrillation (hazard ratio [HR], 1.26), a 57% increased risk of heart failure (HR, 1.57), and a 57% increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality (HR, 1.57). The risk of all-cause mortality also rose significantly, increasing by 60% (HR, 1.60). These risks escalated with higher daily cigarette consumption, reaching an 87% increase in CVD risk (HR, 1.87) and a 130% increase in all-cause mortality (HR, 2.30) for those smoking 11 to 15 cigarettes per day.The initial 20 pack-years and 20 cigarettes per day showed the steepest risk increases.
Importantly, the study found the greatest reduction in risk occurred within the first 10 years after smoking cessation, though benefits continued to accrue over longer periods. Former smokers demonstrated an 80% lower relative risk compared to current smokers within 20 years of quitting.
“It is remarkable how harmful smoking is – even low doses of smoking confer large cardiovascular risks,” the authors stated.”as far as behavior change, it is imperative to quit smoking as early in life as possible, as the amount of time passed since complete cessation from cigarettes is more important than prolonged exposure to a lower quantity of cigarettes each day.”
The full study is available at https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1004561.
