Smoking Just One Cigarette Can Damage Arteries in Young Adults

A new study says smoking just one cigarette stiffens the arteries of young adults by 25 percent!

Dr. Stella Daskalopoulou, an internal medicine and vascular medicine specialist at McGill University Health Center in Montreal, measured arterial stiffness in smokers and non smokers at rest and after exercise. The participants ranged in age from 18 to 30.

 Arterial stiffness in non smokers decreased 3.6 percent after exercise but the smokers’ arterial stiffness increased 2.2 percent after exercise.  Arterial stiffness increased 12.6 percent in smokers after they chewed nicotine gum and 23.5 percent after they had just one cigarette.

Daskalopoulou said, “Our results are significant because they suggest that smoking just a few cigarettes a day impacts the health of the arteries. This was revealed very clearly when these young people were place under physical stress, such as exercise.”

“In effect, this means that even light smoking in otherwise young healthy people can damage the arteries, compromising the ability of their bodies to cope with physical stress, such as climbing a set of stairs or running to catch a bus”, she said. “It seems that this compromise to respond to physical stress occurs first, before the damage of the arteries becomes evident at rest.”

Dr. Daskalopoulou also noted the stiffer a person’s arteries, the greater their risk for heart disease or stroke.

If you smoke, perhaps now is the time to quit. As an ex smoker myself, I know it is a tough challenge but there are many new and effective aids to help you fight your nicotine addiction. If you have smoked for years and consider that smoking  just one cigarette can damage arteries in young adults, just imagine what you are doing to your own arteries!