A U.S. study has recently revealed the dangers of smoking
for women's heart health.
Researchers examined the effects of smoking and quit sucking
on sudden cardiac death (SCD), sudden death, from 101,018 women enrolled in the
Nurses' Health Study, for over 30 years.
SCD caused the death of 300 thousand to 400 thousand people
each year in the U.S. and occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating most die
within an hour.
During the study, 351 participants died from SCD.
In addition to causing heart disease, stroke, and cancer,
women smokers nearly two and a half times the risk of developing SCD than those
who never smoked.
Former smokers also have the potential to develop almost
twice than women who never smoked.
None of the women studied initially have heart disease, or
history of stroke, and cancer when the study began in 1980.
29% of women were smokers, 26.4% former smokers, and 44.5
had never smoked. The women were 30-55 years old when the study began.
The number of cigarettes smoked and the period of smoking
also directly related to the risk of SCD. Mild-to-moderate smokers, those who
smoked one to 14 cigarettes per day, twice the risk compared to those who
never.
While those who smoked up to 25 cigarettes per day at risk
more than tripled. In addition, every five years a woman smoking, there is an
increased risk of SCD by 8 percent.
When you quit smoking, according to researchers, the risk of
SCD decreased to the level of non-smokers in the period of 15-20 years. Women
who did not have heart disease down the risk of SCD is less than five years
after five years of quitting smoking.
"SCD often the first sign of heart disease among women,
thus, important lifestyle changes to lower their risk," said K. Roopinder
Sandhu, MD, MPH, a researcher from the Mazankowski Heart Institute, University
of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, as quoted by LiveScience.
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