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NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – A recent American study suggests that smoking increases the risk of peripheral arterial disease and can last up to 30 years after quitting.
The study was conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States and published its findings in the latest issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Peripheral arterial disease, also known as peripheral arterial aneurysm, is a common blood circulation problem in which narrow arteries reduce blood flow to the extremities.
When a person develops peripheral arterial disease, limbs and legs do not get enough blood to respond to requests, which causes symptoms, including leg pain when walking.
Peripheral arterial disease is probably the sign of a more widespread accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries (atherosclerosis), which can result in a reduction of blood flow to the heart and brain, as well as the legs.
To achieve the results of the study, the team examined 13,355 patients with peripheral arterial disease aged 45 to 64 years.
Among the participants were 3,232 current smokers, 4,000 and 185 former smokers, followed for more than 3 decades.
The study found that people who smoked less than 20 cigarettes a day for more than 40 years were four times more likely to develop peripheral arterial disease.
The researchers found that among those who smoked more than 20 cigarettes a day, the risk of peripheral arterial disease was 5.4 times higher than among those who had never smoked.
The study also revealed that the risk of peripheral arterial disease decreased less than 5 years after quitting, but that it still threatened smokers who quit smoking even after 30 years of quitting. tobacco.
"Our results confirm the importance of quitting smoking for non-smokers and giving up early smoking for smokers," said Dr. Konihiro Matsushita, head of the smoking team. research.
"The study suggests that tobacco health risk campaigns should confirm that smoking increases the incidence of peripheral arterial disease, not just that of coronary heart disease," he said. .
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco kills an estimated 6 million people each year in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, including more than 5 million smokers and about 600,000 non-smokers exposed to the disease. secondhand smoke.
She added that smoking is one of the leading causes of many chronic diseases, including cancer, lung disease, heart disease and blood vessels.
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