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Dateline: 08/18/02

In a new study published in the August 13 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health, Danish researchers found that smoking as few as 3 to 5 cigarettes per day substantially increased the risk of heart attack and death.  This finding was true for both men and women, but was especially true in women, in whom light smoking resulted in a 50% higher incidence of both heart attack and death as compared to men.

Previous studies on "light" smokers also showed that smoking a relatively small number of cigarettes daily was hazardous to one's health, but in these previous studies a cutoff of 10 - 20 cigarettes per day was used.  This is the first study to document that even a very small number of cigarettes per day is a problem.

This new study was accomplished by analyzing data from the Copenhagen City Heart Study, in which 14,223 individuals without evidence of heart disease were followed from 1976 to 1998.  A relatively large proportion of these people turned out to be smokers.

The investigators identified a "dose-response" relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked and the risk of heart attack and death - that is, the more cigarettes one smokes per day, the higher the risk.  But the risk remains substantial all the way down to 3 cigarettes per day.

What this means

Cigarette smokers who convince themselves that "cutting back" is good enough are sadly mistaken.  Even a few cigarettes a day puts you at a significant medical disadvantage.  The only safe way to deal with cigarettes is to avoid them altogether.

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