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Current smokers faced nearly three times the risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease compared with people who never smoked, with the risk being higher among those who began smoking during childhood, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association. Smoking continues to cause an estimated 100,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease every year in the U.S. Currently, there are about 25 million people who smoke daily including 5 million who became regular smokers before the age of 15. Earlier research in Cuba found a correlation between childhood smoking and a higher risk for premature death overall. In this new study, investigators set out to determine if the findings were generalizable in other populations by conducting a similar analysis of U.S. data focused on death from cardiovascular disease. “It was surprising to see how consistent these findings were with our earlier research and with other studies from around the world, including from the U.K., Australia and Japan, among others, both in terms of the substantial risks associated with smoking and with the health benefits of quitting smoking,” said lead study author Blake Thomson, ., ., an epidemiologist at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. “The age at which a person begins smoking is an important and often overlooked factor, and those who start smoking at a young age are at especially high risk of dying prematurely from cardiovascular disease. However, quitting can substantially reduce that risk, especially for those who quit at younger ages. Getting people to quit smoking remains one of the greatest health priorities globally.” Using data collected between 1997 and 2014, from the annual U.S. National Health Interview Survey, researchers examined the medical histories, lifestyle habits and demographics of smokers and nonsmokers. The study included 390,929 adults, ages 25 to 74 years (average age of 47), 56% female. Occasional smokers were excluded from the study. Current smokers were grouped by the age at which they began smoking. During the follow-up period, 4,479 people died before the age of 75 from heart disease or stroke. After adjusting for potential confounding variables, such as age, education, alcohol consumption, region and race, researchers found: 58% were never smokers; 23% were ex-smokers; and 19% were current smokers; Among current smokers, 2% had started smoking before age 10, and 19% began smoking between ages 10 and 14; and Those who quit smoking by the age of 40 reduced their excess risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease by about 90%.
