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Reducing
Smoking Boosts Heart Health
Excerpt By Suzanne Rostler, Reuters Health
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Smokers who quit or even just cut down
on cigarettes can begin to reap the health benefits within a few
months, new study findings suggest.
In the study,
individuals who gradually quit smoking saw improvements in risk
factors for heart disease, including lower cholesterol and carbon
monoxide levels. The findings may encourage some of the millions
of smokers worldwide to cut back on tobacco, which will cause
an estimated 10 million deaths a year by 2030, report researchers
led by Dr. Bjorn Eliasson from Sahlgrenska University Hospital
in Goteborg, Sweden.
``Smoking
reduction results in improvements in established cardiovascular
risk factors...which has the potential to benefit individual and
public health,'' the authors write.
Over 4 months,
33 adults who had smoked 15 or more cigarettes a day for at least
3 years reduced and tried to quit smoking. To help curb their
cravings, they used a nicotine-containing nasal spray manufactured
by Pharmacia Consumer Healthcare, which funded the study.
After 9 weeks,
participants had cut their smoking in half, on average. Levels
of carbon monoxide declined by about 17%, while total cholesterol
and LDL (''bad'') cholesterol levels also fell. Meanwhile, HDL
(''good'') cholesterol rose, and the blood's capacity to transport
oxygen also improved, Eliasson's team reports in the August issue
of Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
Carbon monoxide
is a byproduct of tobacco smoke that has been found to boost cholesterol,
levels of white blood cells and other risk factors for heart disease.
The gas can also impair the blood's ability to transport oxygen
throughout the body, which may raise the risk of heart attack.
According
to previous research cited in the report, reducing total cholesterol
by up to 9% and reducing LDL cholesterol by just 1% can lower
a person's risk of heart disease.
``Reduction
(of smoking) is a step in the right direction, especially for
those that are not quite ready to stop yet,'' Eliasson told Reuters
Health, although he added that it could be difficult for some
people to maintain a lower level for a long period of time.
SOURCE:
Nicotine & Tobacco Research 2001 August.
Reference
Source 89
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