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Giving Up Smoking Helps Arteries Recover

In 10 Years, Smokers' Arteries Lose Dangerous Stiffness

March 21, 2007

• California Tobacco Control Program Saved Billions in Medical Costs • Report Links Tobacco Marketing and Movies With Youth Smoking •Study Finds Big Tobacco Exploiting Ad Ban Loophole • Do Tobacco Firms Cut Menthol to Hook Young Smokers? • Wegmans, DeCicco Markets Ditch Cigarettes • Secondhand Smoke Linked To Hospital Admissions • Anti-Smoking Drug Chantix Linked to Seizures, Heart Problems, Diabetes • Congress Moves To Tighten Tobacco Controls • Toddlers Affected Most By Secondhand Smoke at Home • Tobacco 'Innovations' Aimed at Younger Smokers • Heart Attacks Drop After Smoking Ban in Italy • Physician Highlights Hazards of Bartending • Anti-Smoking Suit Targets Restaurants • Smoking Linked to Sleep Disturbances • States Challenge R.J. Reynolds Cigarette Ads • Smokers Cost Taxpayers $10 Billion • Secondhand Smoke a Serious Health Risk • Would Women Rather Smoke Than Get Fat? • Kroger Agrees to Curb Tobacco Sales to Minors • No More Free Smokes in California • Second-Hand Smoke Tied to Lower Test Scores • Secondhand Smoke Bad for Pets • Researchers Link Smoking To Dementia • Smoking Turns On Genes -- Permanently • Bill Targets Online Cigarette Sellers • UK Tries Nicotine Patches on Pregnant Smokers • More Toxins Found in Smokers' Children --- • More about Smoking & Health

Turns out kicking the habit benefits more than your lungs.

Ex-smokers achieved non-smokers' level of arterial stiffness after a decade of smoking cessation, in a cross-sectional study reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

"Smoking is a major risk factor, not only for lung disease and cancer, but also for heart attack, stroke and heart failure," said lead author Noor Ahmed Jatoi, M.B.B.S., D.C.N., D.M.M.D.

"Our group has previously shown that smoking a single cigarette, passive or second-hand smoking and chronic smoking all lead to stiffer arteries, which in turn increase resistance in the blood vessels and, therefore, increase the work the heart must do."

However, it was not clear if smoking cessation would be associated with reduced arterial stiffness. Stiffness in the arteries can increase blood pressure and is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events.

The researchers studied 554 people (average age 47, 56 percent female) who had high blood pressure but had never been treated for it. Researchers divided the subjects into: current smokers (150), ex-smokers (136) and never-smokers (268).

"We categorized ex-smokers according to how long they were off cigarettes -- under one year, more than one but less than 10 years and more than 10 years of smoking cessation," said Jatoi, a Ph.D. student in clinical pharmacology at Trinity Health Sciences Centre and Hypertension Clinic at St. James's Hospital, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Researchers used Arterial Pulse Wave Analysis, a technology that measures arterial stiffness. They found that current and ex-smokers of only one year had significantly higher stiffness measurements compared with non-smokers.

In ex-smokers, duration of smoking cessation was directly related to improvement in arterial stiffness. They found some improvement after one to 10 years, but arterial stiffness parameters only reached normal levels after more than a decade of smoking cessation.

"Our study reinforces the message that smoking cessation is an important step smokers can take to enhance the quality and length of their lives. It shows both the unhealthy effects of smoking and the benefit of smoking cessation on the arterial wall," he said. "The longer one stops smoking the better." However, researchers noted that results need to be confirmed in a prospective, longitudal study -- one that follows patients over time.

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