It takes years for the heart to recover from smoking

TUESDAY, Aug. 20, 2019 (HealthDay News) – When you quit smoking, your heart starts to rebound immediately, but a full recovery can take up to 15 years, according to a new study.

"The benefit of quitting smoking can not be overestimated – the cardiovascular system is starting to recover quickly, with some physiological changes occurring within hours," said Meredith Duncan, Senior Researcher, Vanderbilt University Division of Cardiovascular Medicine. Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Duncan and his team found that within five years of stopping smoking, your risk of heart disease was considerably lower than that of people who continue to breathe. But it takes between 10 and 15 years before your risk looks like that of someone who has never smoked.

Experts have long believed that the risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure or death from heart disease in a former smoker returns to normal within five years.

Based on this new finding, Dr. Duncan stated that physicians should consider heavy smokers who quit smoking to be at risk for heart problems above normal for at least a decade.

"Complete recovery can take several years. Today is a great day to quit smoking and make an appointment with a doctor to plan a successful long-term cessation of smoking and discuss other measures to improve cardiovascular health. " she said.

For the study, his team collected data on nearly 8,800 men and women who participated in the Framingham Heart Study, a long-term ongoing study into the factors that contribute to heart disease.

Of the study participants, nearly 2,400 were heavy users of tobacco, which meant that they were smoking at least one pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years, or the equivalent.

During an average follow-up of 26 years, more than 2,400 participants had a heart attack, stroke, heart failure or died as a result of heart disease. According to researchers, nearly 1,100 of them were heavy smokers.

Dr. Gregg Fonarow, director of the Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center in Los Angeles, said that almost all studies of former smokers show that their risk of heart disease is lower than that of those who continue to smoke.