Any time is a good time to quit smoking. And now researchers have found that kicking the habit after a heart attack has fast and immediate health benefits.
In fact, within one month of quitting smoking after a cardiac event, people experience a vast improvement in their quality of life, enhanced mental health, and even less chest pain.
About the smoking study
Led by a research team at Washington University School of Medicine, and published in the journal "Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes", the study found that those health benefits continued after a year of quitting smoking.
To conduct the study, 400 people were assessed – patients who were already enrolled in heart attack treatment trials. When they had their heart attack, some of the patients had never smoked, others had previously quit smoking, while others were active smokers. Almost half of the active smokers quit cigarettes in the first year after their heart event.
The health benefits of quitting smoking
While we've known for some time that quitting smoking helps our health by reducing our risk of cardiac conditions, we didn't know much about how our body benefits in other ways. Scientists also didn't yet know what the immediate health benefits were when stopping smoking after a heart attack.
The results were enlightening. Quoted in ScienceDaily, senior author Sharon Cresci explained, "Obviously those patients who had never smoked did the best after their heart attacks. But those who had quit prior to their heart attacks looked remarkably similar to the never smokers. The patients who quit after the heart attacks had an intermediate level of recovery but were markedly better than the active smokers, who fared the worst in the amount of chest pain they experienced and in their responses to questionnaires measuring mental health and quality of life."
What can the study teach us about smoking and health? Well, the research team stresses the importance of including quit smoking support and advice for people who have had a heart attack.
The team is about to embark on a new study – to see if there are genetic reasons as to why it's harder for some people to quit smoking, even after a health scare.
The reason to quit smoking after a heart attack
Tobacco use causes the deaths of more than 7 million people every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, so it must be stopped. While quitting smoking reduces the risk of heart disease, it becomes more important after a heart attack. The effects of smoking on people with poor heart health are more dangerous as it may lead to death from heart disease. It increases blood pressure and the risk of blood clots within the blood vessels. As a result, the heart is unable to pump oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.
High nicotine levels in traditional cigarettes increase adrenaline production, which, in turn, causes an uncontrollable heart rate, which may lead to future heart attacks, or worse, increase the risk of death.
Source: CDC.gov
It's not only cigarette smoking that increases the risk of heart attack, but inhaling secondhand smoke as well. Even healthy people who have not smoked a single cigarette in their life are at risk of lung cancer if they are constantly exposed to cigarette smokers. Cancer Council Victoria says there are no safe levels of secondhand smoke because most of the 7,000 toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke are cancerous, including carbon monoxide. Inhaling even small amounts of secondhand smoke can cause a host of health problems, including:
- Pulmonary disease
- Coronary heart disease
- Cervical cancer
- Stroke
- Arterial disease
- Bladder cancers
- Circulatory diseases
- Pancreatic cancer
- Cardiac death
Why you need to quit smoking after a heart attack
As well as increasing their risk of a smoking-related disease, a current smoker's life expectancy decreases after a heart attack. Keeping the heart healthy and strong requires considering smoking cessation options. There are many ways a heavy smoker can quit smoking and improve their quality of life. Nicotine replacement therapy is one of them, in which smoking alternatives, such as nicotine patches or gum, are used instead of regular cigarettes that are full of harmful chemicals.
Natural healthcare professionals who specialise in counselling, hypnotherapy, acupuncture and exercise medicine, among others, can help smokers manage their stress levels and cravings for nicotine. Brisk walking and consuming a healthy diet filled with fruits and vegetables are believed to not only reduce nicotine withdrawal symptoms but also regulate white blood cells, which increase when you smoke in order to protect your body from the damage caused by tobacco smoke.
If you need help to quit smoking, speak to your healthcare professional. There are also many natural therapies that can support you in your quest to quit smoking and live a healthier life. Your natural therapist can help you quit smoking via online therapy or a face-to-face smoking cessation program.
Originally published on Sep 11, 2015
