Is there a Spectrum of smoking to prevent the risk of heart disease?

Tobacco kills people—there is no safe level of smoking. Even if you smoke only one cigarette a day, you’re at greater risk of heart disease and all the other preventable diseases caused by smoking. There’s also no such thing as a safe cigarette. Cigarettes that claim to be “light” are just as dangerous as regular cigarettes. When smokers switch to these brands, they compensate for the lower nicotine levels by inhaling the smoke more deeply or taking more frequent puffs. Even worse, they increase the number of cigarettes they smoke each day! That pretty much cancels out any potential benefit from a light cigarette. In fact, the benefit is so nonexistent that the FDA no longer allows tobacco manufacturers to use the terms light, ultra-light, mild, or low-tar on packaging or in advertising. Smoking light cigarettes or smoking fewer regular cigarettes won’t reduce your risk of heart disease. The only way to do that is to quit smoking completely. 

The more you smoke, the higher your risk of a heart attack, but there isn’t a safe level of smoking. People who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day have more than twice the risk of heart attack that nonsmokers do. Women who smoke and also take birth control pills increase their risk of heart attack, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease several times. Quitting is very good - only three years after quitting smoking, your risk of having a heart attack is almost as low as if you had never smoked before. Quitting smoking after a heart attack or cardiac surgery can decrease your risk of death by at least one-third.

Find out more about this book: The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer,...

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