Quitting Smoking Also Helps Women’s Hearts

You’ve probably read about how quitting smoking is good for your lungs, but a new study finds that quitting smoking can also reduce women’s risk of death from heart disease.

In a study published in the May 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that the overall risk of death for women who quit smoking dropped 13 percent within five years of quitting. Twenty years after quitting, the researchers found, an ex-smoker’s risk of death was the same as someone who had never smoked. For ex-smokers, their risk of dying from heart disease drops most dramatically in the first five years after they quit, according to the study.

“Sixty-one percent of the full potential benefit of quitting in regard to coronary heart disease mortality and 42 percent of the full potential benefit of quitting in regard to cerebrovascular mortality was realized within the first 5 years of quitting smoking, when comparing hazard ratios for recent quitters of less than 5 years with long-term quitters of 20 years or greater,” the report found. 

The study is based on data from 104,519 women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study between 1980 and 2004. The study also found significant decreases in the risk of death from other diseases for women who quit smoking. For instance, the risk of death from lung cancer dropped 21 percent in the first five years after they quit smoking, but the extra risk for lung cancer for smokers didn’t disappear entirely until women had stopped smoking for 30 years. 

Cindy Westley, Director of Patient and Family Education at the University of Virginia Health System, says the study’s results come as no surprise. 

“We intuitively know that quitting smoking powerfully enhances health and life expectancy,” Westley says. “This is an interesting study of women. One caution – the study uses self-reported information from participants, so it may provide some inaccuracies. With that said, the study should encourage both women who have stopped smoking and those who are considering quitting.” 

Quitting smoking – or never starting to smoke – is one vital element to women’s heart health, Westley says, along with diet and exercise to help you reach a healthy weight. 

“Even small reductions in weight can help. Reducing your weight by just 10 percent can decrease your blood pressure, lower your blood cholesterol level and reduce your risk of diabetes,” Westley says. 

For more information on quitting smoking or reducing your heart disease risk, call the UVA Health Resource Center at 434-924-5000 or visit their website.