Damage from Smoking is Swift, Irreversible

Study Says Even One Cigarette Can Stiffen Arteries in Young Smokers

(WebMD)  Cigarette smoking starts inflicting "very significant" damage on the arteries with the very first puffs taken by otherwise healthy young smokers, new research shows.

The damage worsens as time passes and is impossible to reverse, says researcher Stella Daskalopoulou, MD, of the McGill University Health Centre.

The study found that smoking just one cigarette increases the stiffness of the arteries in 18- to 30-year-old smokers by 25 percent after a treadmill exercise test. It was presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2009 in Edmonton, Alberta.

As arteries stiffen, she says, the heart must work harder, increasing the risk for heart disease or stroke.

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

She tells WebMD that the study compared the arterial stiffness of 10 young smokers, who puffed five to six cigarettes a day, to 10 nonsmokers. The median age of the participants was 21 years. Researchers, who included R.J. Doonan and other medical students under her supervision, measured arterial stiffness at rest and after exercise.

Arterial stiffness in all participants was measured using a method called applanation tonometry.

An initial arterial stiffness measurement was performed at rest for each subject to establish a baseline measure for all the participants. Smokers were instructed not to smoke for 12 hours prior to the test.

After the first meeting, the smokers completed two more tests on different days. For one test, they smoked a single cigarette and then repeated a treadmill exercise test. For the other test, smokers were asked to chew a piece of nicotine gum prior to the exercise test.

Daskalopoulou found that after exercise:

• Arterial stiffness levels in nonsmokers dropped by 3.6 percent.


• Arterial stiffness in smokers increased by 2.2 percent.


• After one cigarette, it increased by 24.5 percent in the smokers.


• After nicotine gum, stiffness increased by 12.6 percent in the smokers.

What the study means is that even light smoking in otherwise healthy people damages the arteries, compromising the ability to cope with physical stress, such as climbing stairs.

"The people tested were young and healthy," she said. "We found there was no significant difference at rest between smokers and nonsmokers, but then we got them to exercise, and the difference was clear."

Cherry Wongtrakool, a pulmonary specialist at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, tells WebMD there's no doubt that even one or two cigarettes impair blood vessel function.

The question is "how much of that change is going to be persistent," which she says isn't answered by the study.

"We know if you have any smoking in your personal history, that puts you at risk for a number of diseases, even if you are a former smoker," Wongtrakool says.

Daskaloupoulou is working on another study now examining whether former smokers who recently stopped can recover some lung function, and if so, how long it takes.

"This study is very exciting," Daskalopoulou tells WebMD. "The earlier you stop, my belief is, the faster some recovery will be, but I don't believe the [arterial] system ever goes back to normal. If you stop early, the damage will be much smaller, but there will still be damage."

She also says that young people who believe that a little smoking doesn't hurt are wrong.

Beth Abramson, MD, spokeswoman for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and director of the Cardiac Prevention Center at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, tells WebMD the study is stunning in that it shows clearly that "harmful effects of smoking show up immediately. This is more evidence to prove that smoking is horrendous to one's health."

Any smoking is bad, she says, because "it does the opposite of what nitroglycerin does, which is helps increase blood flow to the heart."

She says even people who have smoked for decades can benefit from quitting, though "it's going to take longer to take your risk down."

[retze92]

As for Government, cigaretts will never be ban, It generates capitalism, and it increases the mortality rate. Government way of thinking like economist, the higher the mortality rate the less government and the private sector spends on retirement, social security, medicare etc. Because life expendisies have increase, compare to 1920 etc, ever since immunization and technology has taken its roll. therefore, today we live longer and as long anything that is dangerous to health matters like cigaretts that generate capitalism, govt will always approve it. And the private sector will continue to generate anything that causes the mortality rate to increase. Like today,s vehicles are death traps, coffins. If the big 7 were to stop the production of cigarrets capitalism will suffer a disaster, the mortality rate will decrease. Is like pharmacuiticals, read the warning. Today nothing is safe to use. The idea of Capitalism is to increase the mortality rate in accordance to any political economist. Because the population reproduction is greater then tyhat of the mortality rate and so is life expantency which to them hurts the economy. ATTN: Think About it. For every 10 babies born 2 adults die of illiness at an early age the other 8 reach above life expantacies. USMC RETIRED.

[rf35]

Don't worry...smoking will never be banned outright in the US. It's too big of a revenue cash cow for the government. And what would all these anti-smoking scientists do if they couldn't think up new studies to show how bad smoking is? Actually, I would think the government would be pro-smoking. Less people living longer sucking up Social Security, Medicare, etc. Personally, I don't see much point of living past 70. If I have to wear a diaper and can't remember who anybody is, what's the point?

[MichaelJMcFadden]

An "arterial stiffness" increase of 25% after smoking one cigarette? Sounds pretty serious. Maybe they should be banned.

On the other hand, a study in the July 2009 Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that subjects having a breakfast of corn flakes and milk suffered a 160% greater change in another important heart disease measure, Flow Mediated Dilation, than those breakfasting on simple water.

The water group showed a decrease of 1.33% while the KillerKornFlakers showed a decrease of 3.46%. (From private communication with study authors). The Corn-Chompers' decrease was 160% greater than the Water-Woozlers.

But before we ban Killer Korn Flakes, let's look at another statement in the article: "Stiff?or rigid?arteries can lead to cardiac issues because vessel resistance is increased and the heart has to work harder, which can lead to heart disease and stroke risk"

If we take a kid off cigarettes that's obviously a good thing. But what if he signs up for the track team? Won't that also make his heart work harder and lead to heart disease and stroke risk? Or is that OK because it's a sport? Heck, at least it's not football - how many kids end up paralyzed or with permanent brain damage or other such problems playing football every year? How the Q did that EVER get allowed?

Sure, there are other factors involved in all these things, some of them pretty important (such as the track kids measurements at rest being improved while regular smokers may keep them at undesirable levels) but for some strange, arcane, mystical, supercalifragilistic reason, something makes me think that this "One Cigarette Is Deadly" study may just possibly be biased a bit toward producing and promoting a certain desired scary perception.

Next week's headline: "Seeing someone smoke can give Antismokers a heart attack."

{It's true you know! Why? Because we SAID so!}

Michael J. McFadden
Author of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains"

[dnamj]

Quote from the Article: The question is "how much of that change is going to be persistent," which she says isn't answered by the study.

Headline: Damage from Smoking is Swift, Irreversible

My anslysis: this is a scare tactic article. I hate smoking, and quit after 14 years of it, but obvious scare tactic often have the opposite effect. It's also just plain bad journalism.