Quitting smoking could reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 40% in the next 5 years, according to a study

Quitting smoking may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 40%, according to a new study.

The researchers found that older heavy smokers could reach a lower level of risk five years after quitting.

However, after quitting smoking, it could take between 10 and 25 years before the risk of cardiovascular disease of a former smoker is as low as that of a person who has never smoked .

The team, from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., Says the findings provide further evidence – with decades of warnings and health campaigns – to smokers quit smoking to repair their heart and their blood vessels.

The adult smoking rate is currently at the lowest in the United States, from 42% in the 1960s to 13.9% today.

In turn, the number of former smokers is increasing, but it is unclear what risk they are exposed to or how much.

"There was a lack of information on what really happens to people in the long run based on estimates based on rigorously collected data," DailyMail.com said in November. 2018, lead author Meredith Duncan of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

For the study, published in the Journal of the Medical Association, the team analyzed data from the Framingham Heart Study from 1954 to 2014.

It included more than 8,700 participants, including about 3,800 originally enrolled and about 4,900, who are their children and grandchildren.

"The Framingham Heart Study provides particularly reliable data on smoking history over the course of life," Duncan said.

"Our team took this unique opportunity to document what happens to the risk of CVD after quitting, compared to people who have continued smoking and those who have never smoked."

The team was looking for heavy cigarette smokers who smoked at least one pack a day for 20 years.

They found that, compared to current heavy smokers, significant former smokers who quit smoking could reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease within five years.

"Previous studies have shown the link between quitting smoking and reducing the risk of CVD," Duncan said.

"But the current risk calculator of atherosclerotic CVD, which is commonly used in clinical practice, considers that the risk of former smokers is similar to that of people who have never smoked after five years of arrest, which is not consistent with these results. "

The new study found that, compared to people who had never smoked, the risk of cardiovascular disease could take between 10 and 25 years to become so low.

The researchers hope the results will convince current smokers to "take out their cigarettes".

"The cardiovascular system starts to heal fairly quickly after quitting, even in people who have been smoking heavily for decades," said Dr. Hilary Tindle, senior author, medical director of the tobacco treatment department at the Medical Center. Vanderbilt University.

"The full recovery could take years, so it's a good time to quit smoking and take other steps to improve heart health."

Preliminary findings were originally presented at the American Heart Association conference in Chicago, Illinois, in November 2018.