Smoking harms your health. We have known this for a long time. If you have smoked for a long time, even years after you have stopped smoking, you are at greater risk of heart failure. The longer and more intense the smoking period, the greater the risk of disease, the researchers say.
We smoke less, but the risk of complications is still high
It is true that the risk of its complications decreases with each passing year of quitting nicotine. However, as reported by specialists from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (USA), even after several decades, ex-smokers have an increased risk of heart failure.
Scientists came to such conclusions after studying the health of 9,5 thousand. volunteers aged 61 to 81 years, followed for an average of 13 years. Active smokers were at risk of disease on average more than twice as high as never smokers. Former nicotine lovers had an average risk of over 30%. higher.
The clear effects of smoking only faded away 30 years after cessation.
At the same time, the risk depended on the dose – the more someone smoked, the higher the risk.
“These results highlight the importance of smoking prevention, especially among children and young adults,” says Dr. Kunihiro Matsushita, one of the lead authors of the publication in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“We hope our results will encourage current smokers to quit as soon as possible, as the resulting damage can persist for up to three decades,” he adds.
Heart failure – what is it?
Heart failure is a progressive disorder in which the heart increasingly loses its ability to pump blood. It is one of the most common causes of disability and death in developed countries. In Poland, it suffers from 600 to 700 thousand. people.
In addition to smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and advanced age increase the risk of this disease.
Some types of heart failure can be treated with medications that improve prognosis. In other cases, the therapeutic options are very limited. This is another important reason not to reach for cigarettes. ‘The links found show that smoking casts a long shadow on heart health,’ concludes Dr Matsushita.