The good news is that people who quit reap almost immediate health returns, burning away their increased risk of early death from lung cancer, heart disease and other illnesses. That appears to be true even for smokers who've already developed heart disease, according to a new study which found that these patients can greatly reduce chances of dying in the near term by laying off tobacco.

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A report on the findings appears in the July 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

36% lower chance of premature death
Julia Critchley and Dr Simon Capewell, of the US University of Liverpool's Department of Public Health, reviewed 20 previous studies of the benefits of smoking cessation in people with coronary heart disease. That diagnosis included chest pain and/or a previous heart attack.

Taken together, they found patients who stopped smoking lowered their chances of premature death by 36 percent compared with those who continued to smoke. The effect of quitting was strong regardless of a person's age, sex or the nature of their heart problem.

Although the majority of the studies the researchers reviewed had flaws, when they restricted their analysis to six high-quality studies, the reduction in early death from quitting smoking was 29 percent, or almost identical to the overall figure. The size of the effect is similar to or greater than other interventions, such as reducing cholesterol and taking aspirin or heart drugs called beta blockers, proven to improve the prognosis for heart disease patients.

Evidence leaves smokers with little choice
Given the overwhelming evidence of the benefits of stopping smoking, the researchers write, it is unlikely that substantial further work exploring the magnitude or speed of effect of smoking cessation is needed. Heart disease patients who stop smoking have a considerably lower risk of death than those who don't quit, they write. Advice and support for smoking cessation should be provided routinely to all patients with a diagnosis of heart disease.

Dr Thomas Rea, a heart specialist at the University of Washington in Seattle, says the latest study shows nothing new: He and his colleagues proved in their own work that heart attack patients who quit smoking for three years can bring their risk of additional cardiovascular problems down to that of non-smokers.

Even so, Rea says, it's always good to have solid evidence that is consistent with what we're telling patients. - (HealthDayNews)

Read more:
Ban on smoking saves hearts

 

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