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Smoking: the particular risks of
starting young
By Bart G. Denys, M.D.
Medical Director
Cardiovascular Institute of the South/Thibodaux
Anyone who reflects upon the matter would agree
that the earlier exposure to a cumulative health risk begins, the
earlier its effects will be felt. A new Oxford University study
clearly supports that conclusion in regard to smoking.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal, surveyed
just under 14,000 heart attack survivors in Great Britain and some
32,400 of their relatives.
After analyzing the ages at which the sample's smokers took up
the habit, the Oxford researchers found that the smokers who began
earlier were especially likely to suffer an early heart attack.
Individuals between age 30 and 49 were at a five times greater
risk of heart attack than their non-smoking peers; those between 50
and 59 had three times the risk; and those between 60 and 79 double
the risk. Researchers concluded that the increased risk is greater
among smokers under 50 because they have not lived long enough for
other risk factors, like genetic predisposition to heart attack or
the effects of a high fat diet to begin taking their tolls.
Researchers also divided the smokers in the study into two
groups, those smoking regular and those smoking "low-tar"
cigarettes. The difference in heart attack rates between those
groups, the researchers said, is "trivial."
The researchers concluded that the teenage years are the most
potentially damaging for anyone to begin smoking, underscoring the
value of efforts to especially discourage the marketing of
cigarettes to the young.
It's worth noting that the British smokers felled by their habit
were, by comparison to a great many American smokers, a relatively
restrained lot, consuming between 10 and 30 cigarettes a day.
©1999
Cardiovascular Institute of the South
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