Okay, we’ve tackled lung cancer. Let’s take a look at this Reuter’s news report about a study showing the detrimental effects of even “light smoking.”
Light smoking triples risk of heart disease death
Wed Sep 21, 7:25 PM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Smokers who believe a few cigarettes a day don’t do any harm will need to think again.
ADVERTISEMENTNorwegian scientists who studied the health records of 43,000 men and women have shown that even light smoking — less than five cigarettes daily — triples the risk of dying of heart disease or lung cancer.
“In both sexes, smoking 1-4 cigarettes per day was associated with a significantly higher risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease and from all causes, and from lung cancer in women,” said Dr Aage Tverdal of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo.
The study was published in the journal Tobacco Control.
The researchers tracked the health and death records and smoking habits of the men and women, who had been screened for heart disease at the start of the study, from the 1970s to the 2002.
They found very little difference in the risk of dying from cancer, apart from lung cancer. Men who were light smokers were about three times more likely to die of lung cancer than non-smokers.
In women the risk rose to five times higher.
The dangers of smoking are well documented. Previous research has shown that smokers die on average 10 years earlier than non-smokers but stopping, even in middle age, can halve the risk.
It is also a risk factor for heart disease and stroke and raises the odds of developing age-related macular degeneration which is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly.
Tverdal and his colleague Dr Kjell Bjartveit, of the National Health Screening Service in Oslo and a co-author of the study, said health officials must emphasize more strongly that light smokers are also endangering their health.
Even a few cigarettes per day could triple your risk of dying from heart disease and lung cancer. I urge everyone who smokes to kick the habit. It doesn’t matter if you’re just a “light smoker” or “social smoker.”
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lefthand added these pithy words on Sep 25 05 at 10:51 ami just started reading but i have a feeling your blog will be a good read. i’ll probably linking you in my blog. if that’s alright? i am still at a loss of what direction to take in blogging. but i’m just starting again. i’ll figure it out soon. (i hope.)
cheeris!
