Stop smoking: Gained heart years

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MunichSmoked all your life? Many older smokers think that quitting is no longer worthwhile anyway. But they are wrong: even those who renounce the glowing sticks beyond the age of 60 can clearly gain life.

But how many years does quitting smoking actually bring in old age? Scientists around Dr. Ute Mons from the German Cancer Research Center have now calculated exactly that.

The figures are based on the largest study to date of the effects of smoking on cardiovascular disease in the elderly. To this end, the researchers analyzed 25 individual studies from Germany and the USA. In total, she used it to evaluate data from over half a million people aged 60 and over. More than 37,000 died during the respective study period as a result of a heart attack or stroke.

Quitting smoking is also worthwhile in old age

Accordingly, smokers died on average five and a half years earlier due to cardiovascular disease than lifelong non-smokers. In the case of ex-smokers, on the other hand, it was just over two years.

"It is never too late to quit smoking. Even people in the highest age group still benefited greatly from it in terms of health," says Prof. Hermann Brenner from the German Cancer Research Center.

Melting risk

In fact, the team found that the risk of heart attack and stroke decreased measurably in the first five years after the last cigarette. Those who only managed to quit smoking after their 60th birthday benefited. The longer it was before they stopped smoking, the more the likelihood of ex-smokers dying of a heart attack or stroke fell.

Calcified vessels

If you think about the risks of smoking, the first thing that probably comes to mind is cancer. Many underestimate the effects of tobacco on the heart. Smoking promotes the formation of plaques in the blood vessels: arteriosclerosis develops, the greatest risk of heart attack and stroke. As a result, smokers are twice as likely to die of cardiovascular disease as lifelong non-smokers. The risk increases depending on the number of cigarettes a person has consumed in the course of their life. After quitting smoking, this risk decreases continuously. On average, it is only 1.3 times higher for former smokers than for a lifelong non-smoker. (cf)

Source:

Ute Mons: Impact of smoking and smoking cessation on cardiovascular events and mortality among older adults - Meta-analysis of individual participant data from prospective cohort studies of the CHANCES consortium. British Medical Journal 2015, DOI: 10.1136 / bmj.h1551

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