Heart Care
No Amount of Cigarettes Is Safe for Your HeartResearch has shown that smoking cigarettes, as well as being exposed to secondhand smoke, raises risk for heart disease. But what is the difference between a little smoke compared with a lot of smoke? A new study published in the American Heart Association's medical journal, Circulation, found that even small amounts of smoke are linked to the steepest increases in risk for death from heart disease. Big Risks at Low LevelsResearchers analyzed data on roughly 1.2 million adults that had been collected during 25 years as part of a study by the American Cancer Society. Volunteers were followed for about six years. More than 200,000 study participants were smokers. The study found that even low levels of smoke from cigarettes can substantially raise the risk for death from heart disease. The biggest increases in risk occurred at lower levels of exposure, with risk leveling off at higher levels. Compared with people who had never smoked, those who smoked up to three cigarettes a day increased their risk of dying from heart disease by 65 percent. Doubling or tripling the amount of cigarettes per day increased risk to 79 percent. Small but substantive risk was also linked to exposure to secondhand smoke. Compared with active smokers, passive smokers inhale just a fraction of the smoke particles from burning cigarettes. Yet they still were found to have a 20 percent to 30 percent higher risk for death from heart disease than those not exposed to secondhand smoke. Quit Smoking for GoodNov. 19 is the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout. Use this day as an opportunity to quit smoking for good. Follow these tips for a smoke-free future:
To help provide the best environment of care for our patients and staff, the University of Virginia Medical Center is now smoke-free. UVA's Clean Air Zone webpage has resources on quitting smoking as well as a map detailing where smoking is not permitted. For more information about quitting smoking or UVA's Heart & Vascular Center, visit www.uvahealth.com. Always consult your physician for more information. Online Resources(Our organization is not responsible for the content of Internet sites.) |
November 2009No Amount of Cigarettes Is Safe for Your Heart Tools You Can Use to Quit Smoking Tools You Can Use to Quit SmokingMany people who have quit smoking didn't do it alone. Instead, they used stop-smoking products. These can ease nicotine withdrawal symptoms, such as cravings and irritability:
Always consult your physician for more information. |