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Can a heavy smoker regain good cardiovascular health after quitting cigarettes? Yes, reveals a new study, but we will have to be patient for that…
Quitting cigarettes today gives yourself a better chance of staying in good health tomorrow. In the middle of “No Tobacco Month”, a Korean study reveals the time it takes for ex-smokers to regain cardiovascular health comparable to non-smokers. Result: the heaviest consumers would take several years to regain an acceptable cardiovascular risk.
25 years to regain “normal” cardiovascular health
The research, conducted by South Korean scientists and published in the medical journal JAMAaimed to find out the existing association between the way of smoking and the real cardiovascular risk several years after stopping. The retrospective cohort study (conducted using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database) compared the data of 100,000 participants who were former smokers to more than 4 million non-smokers and updated them. every two years between 2006 and 2019, for an analysis finally carried out in 2022.
What does she say? That among “heavy” smokers, that is to say those who have smoked intensely for at least 8 years, the risk of cardiovascular diseases remains high long after stopping and lasts for a few years at the same level as that of smokers current. Only those who have stopped smoking for more than two decades, around 25 years, see their risk gradually decrease to reach that of people who have never smoked.
In more moderate smokers, on the other hand, cardiovascular risk tended to decrease more quickly after stopping smoking.sometimes in just a few years.” Moderate tobacco consumption therefore has less persistent effects on the cardiovascular system.
Tobacco very toxic for the cardiovascular system
In France, in 2021 around 30% of French adults reported smoking, according to Public Health France, including 25.3% daily. A very bad habit, when we know that tobacco is responsible for nearly 75,000 deaths each year in the country, a large part of which are linked to cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks, strokes and heart failure.
The tobacco found in a single cigarette is in fact composed of around 7,000 chemical substances, including nicotine in particular, which causes increases in heart rate and blood pressure. Carbon monoxide, on the other hand, reduces oxygen reserves in the body, and forces the heart to work harder, inexorably tiring it.
Much faster positive effects when stopping also exist
Although it takes 25 years to return to normal cardiovascular risk, the French Cardiology Federation still points out that immediate positive effects are still seen as soon as you stop smoking. So :
- 20 minutes after the last cigarette: blood pressure and heartbeat, which were modified with each cigarette smoked, are no longer disturbed;
- 8 hours after the last cigarette: the quantity of carbon monoxide in the blood decreases by half and the oxygenation of cells returns to normal;
- 24 hours after the last cigarette: the body no longer contains nicotine;
- 48 hours after the last cigarette: taste and smell improve;
- 72 hours after the last cigarette: breathing becomes easier;
- 2 weeks after the last cigarette: the risk of heart attack has started to decrease because coagulation has normalized;
- 3 months after the last cigarette: cough and fatigue decrease. We recover our breath. We walk more easily.
To stop, the annual operation Me(s) without tobacco can therefore offer you free help and support in your project. Also note that Social Security covers certain cessation methods, such as nicotine substitutes (patches, gum, lozenges) as well as specific smoking cessation consultations with doctors and tobacco specialists to put the odds in your favor.
Slide: The harms of cigarettes