Just one cigarette damages health

Just one cigarette has serious adverse effects on young adults, according to new research.

A Canadian study found that smoking one cigarette increases the stiffness of the arteries in 18 to 30-year-olds by 25%.

Arteries that are stiff or rigid increase resistance in the blood vessels, making the heart work harder. The stiffer the artery, the greater the risk for heart disease or stroke.

The study compared the arterial stiffness of young people who smoke five or six cigarettes a day to non-smokers. The average age was 21 years. The stiffness of the arteries was measured in the wrist, the neck and the groin, at rest and after exercise.

After exercise, the arteries’ stiffness levels dropped in non-smokers by 3.6%. In smokers, however, the opposite occurred. Even when they had not smoked in the previous 12 hours, their arterial stiffness increased by 2.2% after exercise. After smoking one cigarette, it increased by some 24.5%.

The study also found that chewing nicotine gum increased a person’s arterial stiffness by 12.6%.

"In effect, this means that even light smoking in otherwise young healthy people can damage the arteries, compromising the ability of their bodies to cope with physical stress, such as climbing a set of stairs or running to catch a bus," said Dr Stella Daskalopoulou, an internal medicine and vascular medicine specialist at McGill University Health Centre, Canada, who presented the study.

"Our results are significant because they suggest that smoking just a few cigarettes a day impacts the health of the arteries. This was revealed very clearly when these young people were placed under physical stress, such as exercise,” Dr Daskalopoulou added.

According to Dr Beth Abramson of the Heart and Stroke Foundation, over 90% of teenagers who smoke as few as three to four cigarettes a day may be trapped into a lifelong habit of regular smoking, which typically lasts 35 to 40 years.

Smoking contributes to the build up of plaque in the arteries, increases the risk of blood clots, reduces the oxygen in the blood, increases blood pressure, and makes the heart work harder. Smoking also nearly doubles the risk of ischemic stroke.

The study was presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009.

[Posted: Tue 27/10/2009]