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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Cutting down on the number of cigarettes smoked may not really be helping heavy smokers develop better lung health.
The reason: they just take more frequent puffs on the cigarettes they do smoke and inhale more deeply, thus compensating for the fewer number of cigarettes smoked overall.
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Researchers came to that conclusion after studying 64 heavy smokers who significantly reduced their habit over the previous few months. They compared levels of a biological marker produced in the body in response to the tobacco toxin NNK in those smokers to 62 smokers who typically smoked fewer cigarettes.
Both the formerly heavy smokers and the lighter smokers were smoking about five cigarettes per day, but the heavy smokers had, on average, about twice the level of the biological marker.
"Our results are consistent with other studies that show that people who decrease their smoking by 50 percent or more do not experience a comparable reduction in risk for lung cancer because they tend to smoke their fewer cigarettes more intensely," reports study author Dorothy Hatsukami, Ph.D. "The best way to lower the risk for tobacco-caused premature death is to stop smoking altogether."
Dr. Hatsukami conducted the study along with colleagues at the University of Minnesota Medical School and Cancer Center.
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: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, published online Dec. 13, 2006
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