Cigarette smoking and death risk: Smoking even a small number of cigarettes over a lifetime may be far more dangerous than many people realise, a new study suggests.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University, who tracked the health and smoking habits of more than 3,00,000 adults for almost two decades, found that people who smoked as few as two cigarettes a day had a sharply higher risk of dying early compared with those who never smoked.
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The study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, also suggests that smoking as few as 100 cigarettes over a lifetime may be enough to raise the risk of heart disease and premature death.
According to the analysis, men and women who smoked up to two cigarettes daily had about a 60% higher risk of death from any cause than people who never smoked. Their risk of developing heart disease was around 50% higher.
The study also challenges the common belief that “cutting down” is enough to undo harm. Current smokers had the highest risk, but even people who had quit remained at increased risk of heart disease more than 20 years after stopping, compared with those who had never smoked. The researchers say this shows how long-lasting the effects of tobacco can be, even when people successfully give up the habit.
The study found that the biggest drop in risk happens in the first 10 years after quitting, but it can take much longer for former smokers’ risk levels to approach those of people who have never smoked.
