 | | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Whether you smoke it, chew it, or inhale it second hand, any kind of tobacco is bad for your heart.
New results from the INTERHEART study reveal all forms of tobacco exposure increase the risk of heart attack up to three times. Data from 27,089 people in 52 countries included sheesha smoking -- tobacco smoked through a water pipe (hookah), popular in the Middle East -- and beedle smoking -- tobacco rolled in a dried leaf and tied with a string -- which is common in South Asia. The study reveals both are harmful.
Text Continues Below
Researchers report smokers have a three-fold increased risk of a heart attack compared to people who have never smoked. Those who had eight to 10 cigarettes a day doubled their risk of heart attack. And chewing tobacco also increased the risk two-fold.
Results reveal stopping smoking decreased the risk, and light smokers -- less than 10 cigarettes a day -- had no increased risk of a heart attack three to five years after they quit. But moderate and heavy smokers -- more than 20 cigarettes a day -- still had a 22-percent increased risk 20 years after kicking the habit.
Among former and non-smokers the study reveals exposure to second hand smoke increased the risk of heart attack. Those with the most exposure -- 22 hours or more per week -- may increase their risk by about 45 percent.
Study author Salim Yusuf, M.D., from McMaster University in Ontario, concludes, "Since the risks of heart attack associated with smoking dissipate substantially after smoking cessation, public health efforts to prevent people from starting the habit, promote quitting in current smokers, will have a large impact in prevention of heart attack worldwide."
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: The Lancet, 2006;368:647-658
|
.gif)
