Smoking triples risk of heart attacks, study finds
The research found tobacco use of any kind, including smoking cigarettes, chewing tobacco, inhaling secondhand smoke and puffing on “bubble” pipes, was harmful.
Heart attack risk was increased threefold in smokers compared with people who had never smoked.
The research, conducted in 52 countries, provided concrete evidence that secondhand smoke was dangerous to the heart.
Individuals with the highest levels of passive smoking exposure, 22 hours or more per week, raised their risk of a heart attack by about 45%.
Chewing tobacco doubled the chances of having a heart attack, as did smoking eight to 10 cigarettes a day.
Heart attack risk decreased with time after people stopped smoking.
In the case of light smokers who had fewer than 10 cigarettes a day, there was no excess risk three to five years after quitting.
However, people who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day still had a 22% increased risk 20 years after giving up.
Professor Salim Yusuf from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, who led the Interheart study, said: “Since the risks of heart attack associated with smoking dissipate substantially after smoking cessation, public health efforts to prevent people from starting the habit and promote quitting in current smokers, will have a large impact in the prevention of heart attacks worldwide.”
The findings were reported yesterday in The Lancet medical journal.
Heart attack risk was directly linked to the number of cigarettes a person smoked, the study showed.
The risk rose 1.63 times for people smoking one to nine cigarettes a day, 2.59 times for 10 to 19 cigarettes, 4.59 times for 20 or more cigarettes, and 9.16 times for 40 or more.
Similar trends were seen for men and women. The impact of smoking on heart attack risk was much greater in younger than in older individuals.
Worldwide, the total number of smokers is estimated at 1.3 billion, 82% of whom live in developing countries.
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